


As pure as gold

by phanjessmagoria



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, M/M, Multi, Pining, Rimming, Sexting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-07-26 09:27:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7568893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phanjessmagoria/pseuds/phanjessmagoria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Here we go - life’s waiting to begin</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I wanna have the same last dream again

**Author's Note:**

> So...I recently reached 30,000 total hits on here (recently as in today), so I really wanted to get this fic up as kind of a thank you, to show everyone how much it means that you all read my fics and leave comments and kudos. I really appreciate that you guys take the time to read my writing, and I hope that you like this fic. It's kind of starting off slow, but everyone gets some action in the coming chapters and it will be endgame OT4. =) I hope you like it. Thank you all again.

“Fuck,” Michael whispered, his hand dragging over his dick, slowly working its way up toward the head as his index finger and thumb squeezed down, providing much-needed pressure on his swollen length.

“Like that, huh, Mikey?” Luke asked him, grinning down, his blue eyes bright even in the dimness of Michael’s bedroom.

“Yeah,” Michael mumbled, Luke’s cock pumping in and out of his tight ass. 

There was a lamp glowing behind Luke’s shoulder, barely, or maybe it was his computer screen; he couldn’t honestly tell. Luke was silhouetted from behind, but Michael could see the smirk on his face as he leaned down to mouth at his shoulder, biting down on his collarbone before—

Michael gasped awake, the pitch black of the hotel room pressing in on his eyes. He had seen Luke so clearly above him, felt their bodies pushing and working together, but.

He took a deep breath, glancing over at the other bed as his eyes began to adjust to the darkness. His breathing was coming a bit heavy, still, but it didn’t seem as though Luke had heard him and woken up. He was still sleeping, facing away from Michael, his head just visible against the pale linens on the bed.

Michael pushed his head back against his pillow, sighing softly as he felt his heart stop pounding in his chest, though he couldn’t stop the _other_ heartbeat he could feel in his lower abdomen. His cock was hard, because he couldn’t catch a fucking break apparently, but at least he hadn’t had a total wet dream and come all over himself in his sleep.

Pushing the covers away, Michael slipped out of bed and padded into the bathroom, turning on the light and squinting against its brightness before shutting the door behind him as quietly as he could, the lock clicking when he pushed the button in on the handle.

He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, trying to will himself to stop being horny as shit, but that wouldn’t work. It never worked.

With one glance in the mirror, Michael straightened up and moved to the sink, turning the water on to cover up any residual noises that Luke might hear if he happened to wake, then hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers and pushed them down, exposing his dick.

He was just as hard as in his dream, his cock arching, curled upward, sticking out straight from his body, and Michael bit his lip as he touched it, holding back a hiss, his teeth bared, lip stinging between them.

It wouldn’t take him long to come like this, he knew, not when he was so worked up from his dream, so he grabbed a few tissues from the box on the back of the toilet and put them on the countertop next to him before he set about moving his hand over himself. His hand felt cool against the heated, velvety skin of his cock, and he closed his eyes as he jerked off, allowing his thoughts to wind their way back to the dream he’d had.

Luke had been above him, fucking him hard, his mouth on his neck and chest. His stubble tickled Michael—he always swore he could feel it on his skin whenever he dreamed about it, even after he woke up—so he lifted a hand to his chest, touching himself there too, where Luke’s lips had been just as he had jerked awake.

Michael’s cock was dribbling precome all over his hand, wetting his fingers as it rolled over them, rolled down the underside of his cock. It tickled his sensitive skin a little, and he knew that, at this point, anything could very well be the thing that set him off.

He moved his hand over himself faster, panting as softly as he could as he heard the quiet slapping noises of his wrist hitting into his stomach, until finally he came. He grabbed for the tissues but didn’t get them in time; it would have been funny to watch if he wasn’t the one fucking coming all over himself, but he had been jerking his dick practically vertically, his thumb brushing against his stomach, so when he came his semen shot straight up, landing all over his stomach and arm. What didn’t stained his underwear, bunched up around his thighs, and some even landed on the tiled floor at his feet.

Michael’s leg twitched as he came, but finally his body relaxed and he leaned on the sink for support, catching his breath as he began to clean himself up with the tissues, wiping his front off, making sure to even swipe over the tip of his dick before he pulled his boxers back up, letting the elastic snap against his stomach before he cleaned any trace that he’d done this off of the floor, then flushed the tissues.

The sink was still running, and the toilet sounded insanely loud in the stillness of the late hour, but it didn’t wake Luke.

Because he’d been awake for a bit longer than Michael, had heard him go into the bathroom. He’d heard everything, right from the beginning—starting with Michael’s soft whimpers in his sleep to his ragged, heavy breaths just before he got out of bed. Michael’s labored breathing had been what woke Luke, and he didn’t have to be a genius to figure out what he’d probably been dreaming about. Luke didn’t know when Michael would make a reappearance in the room, but the sink was still running.

Luke took a quick, deep breath, keeping his eyes squeezed shut. He’d basically just heard his best friend jerk off in the bathroom—even though he hadn’t heard any actual proof, the evidence was pretty much pointing in that direction.

He drifted off before Michael exited the bathroom, the swirling water from the running sink in his ears. It helped lull him back off to sleep, which he very much appreciated, since he was trying to ignore the throbbing between his legs telling him to go take care of it once Michael vacated the bathroom.

–

“How long?” Luke asked, uncoiling the cord of his earbuds and frowning as they just ended up in a complicated knot. He sighed softly.

“How long what?” Ashton asked in return, looking back at him from where he was sitting, bent nearly in half in his bunk on the tour bus.

“How long do we have on the bus tonight?”

“Luke,” Ashton said, clearly admonishing him. “Zoe just told us not ten minutes ag—”

“I forgot, ok?” Luke said, now pulling far too fiercely on the cables in frustration, only succeeding in tightening the knot, as Ashton muttered something about “not listening in the first place” under his breath.

“Give me that,” Michael said, standing up from the couch in the back lounge where he and Calum had settled in and walked into the aisle between bunks. Luke was standing across from Ashton, struggling with the damn headphones, and Michael snatched them from his hand. He met Luke’s eyes for a brief moment before Luke turned back to Ashton.

“So, how long?”

“We’re driving straight through,” Ashton said, frowning and tugging the curtain closed most of the way; hopefully the rest of his band would take this as a cue to shut up.

Luke groaned and leaned his head back, bumping it against the railing holding the curtain up on his own bunk.

“Here,” Michael said, shoving the headphone cord into Luke’s chest; he’d untangled them with deft fingers.

“Cheers,” Luke said, biting his lip as he watched Michael’s mouth curl into a smirk, both of them ignoring Ashton again and grinning as Michael turned away to head back into the sitting area.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Luke called at Michael’s back, not overly loud, but enough that Ashton sighed in frustration and tugged his curtain the rest of the way closed.

With his headphones sorted out, Luke hopped up into his own bunk, pulling his t-shirt off in the low space and tossing it toward his feet, then laid down, stretching his tall frame out as much as he could. He wasn’t tired, really, even though he was laying down; he hooked the headphones into his ears and pulled up the YouTube app. Listening to music was better when he had something to look at too.

Luke was five music videos in before his eyes started to flutter shut, and instead of trying to adjust his position or sit up to stay awake longer, he figured he might as well just let it happen. Ashton was probably already asleep, and Michael and Calum were actually keeping it down in the back, which was rare enough that Luke wouldn’t squander the opportunity to fall asleep in peace.

The peace was short-lived, though—a little after he’d fallen asleep (minutes, Luke thought, or seconds), his phone vibrated from where it had fallen, facedown, out of his hand and onto his stomach.

He inhaled sharply upon waking, blinking in the darkness of his bunk and picked up his phone. The light of the lockscreen made him wince, and he glanced at the time before checking who had texted him. Hours had passed, actually, because the time was no longer before midnight and was actually closer to 2:30 in the morning.

Luke took a deep breath, squinting his eyes, and looked at the screen of the phone, swiping to unlock it. The text was from Michael.

 _u still up?_ it read.

Luke sighed and leaned his head back against the pillow. He saw the bubble appear indicating that Michael was typing something else, so Luke tapped out an answer before he could send another text.

_I guess i am now_

_i hate sleeping on the bus_

Luke rolled his eyes just a little. Michael was below him—Luke could hear him shuffling around in his own bunk, probably unable to sleep, the sounds of the road too loud for him to focus.

_Put on your headphones then_

_im not tired_

_I was asleep you know_ Luke sent, at the same time Michael sent _im horny_

Luke paused, staring at his phone screen, blinking like maybe he was misreading what Michael had sent. But no, there it was. In all its brazen glory, in words that might have been blinking right in his face. _im horny_

 _Gross_ is what Luke finally managed, turning a little onto his side to face the wall of the bus, hopefully blocking out any sounds he might hear coming from Michael’s bunk beneath him.

_its not gross, youve totally seen me naked before_

_Not when you were hard, you freak_

_do you want to?_

_NO, what is wrong with you?_

_im horny!!!!!!!!!_

_So jerk off and leave me alone_

_the wifi isnt working_

Luke frowned at his phone, wishing he hadn’t replied to Michael at all. _So?_

_its easier to get porn when the wifi is working that way it doesnt have to buffer like in the middle of some chick getting spitroasted_

_Literally stop talking to me michael_

_im struggling here luke_

_It’s not that hard to just jerk off quietly and leave me out of it_

_it actually is that hard_

Luke glared at his phone.

_really hard_

Luke tossed his phone away, not wanting to hear any more about Michael or his dick, because all he could think of was the last time Michael had woken him up in the middle of the night, though that time it was unintentional. That time, Luke hadn’t really been able to hear Michael jerking off. But Luke knew if he didn’t fall asleep _right fucking now_ that he’d probably be treated to hearing the muffled, rhythmic noises of Michael stroking his dick, and that really wasn’t something he needed right now.

His phone vibrated again, loudly against the wall of the bus, and Luke snatched it from where it was tangled in his blankets, swiping the screen hastily and reading Michael’s message.

_help?_

Luke’s lips were pursed, his heart was thrumming in his chest, in his ears, and he pushed down the urge to ask Michael _Why?_ and instead asked him—

_How?_

Luke swore he could hear a relieved sigh from below him, Michael glad Luke took pity on him, apparently.

_first u gotta promise shit wont get weird between us lol_

Luke rolled his eyes. It couldn’t get any weirder than Luke listening to Michael react in his sleep to the sex dreams he was undoubtedly having, and enjoying them just a little too much (or maybe enjoying them at all was the real problem).

 _Just one bro doing a favor for another bro_ Luke sent, and he heard Michael snicker in response.

_sure. bro. ok lets do this_

_Wait. What am i doing_

_idk just talk to me about stuff, are you seriously saying youve never sexted before_

_Not another guy!_ Luke replied, huffing indignantly. He heard Michael chuckle again, below him.

_alright ill start then_

Luke tapped out “Start?” but instead of sending it, he backspaced it when he saw Michael begin to type something.

 _is your dick out_ was what he sent, and Luke didn’t know what to expect, but he didn’t think it was that.

 _Uh, no_ Luke typed, sending it after a moment’s deliberation with himself. Should his dick be out?

 _mine is_ Michael sent after a second, and then, _want a pic?_

Luke honestly didn’t know what to say. Because on one hand, like, he’d already seen Michael’s dick, so no big deal. But on the other...Michael jerking off had been invading his thoughts so often lately, mostly because Luke always woke up whenever Michael had one of his dreams that made him writhe around on his bed like his body couldn’t decide if he was experiencing pain or pleasure.

_No_

_thats k. ill send one after i cum 8==D~ O:_

_I’m going to sleep_

_ok come on im kidding_ Michael sent, and then _im joking_ and then, when Luke still didn’t reply, _luke_

_If i get my dick out can we just do this_

_yes._

Luke licked the corner of his mouth, drawing in a deep breath from his nose, and then shifted himself a little, pushing down his sweats and underwear, exposing himself; with his pants down around his thighs he was nearly completely naked, and he could just make out how quickly his chest was rising and falling, his breath rattling in his sleep-weary throat.

His phone, which he was still clinging to, vibrated again in his hand. He ignored it for the moment, because he was trying to get used to the idea that he was apparently about to sext with Michael, for the express purpose of actually getting off and not playing some kind of gay chicken where they tried to out-do each other until the other one admitted defeat.

His phone buzzed again and Luke snapped back to himself, taking a deep, steady breath, then swiping the screen open.

 _luke?_ the first message said, and then, _i can hear u moving, you still cool with this?_

 _Yeah_ Luke answered. _Sorry, still kind of waking up_

It was a lie, but Michael would probably buy it.

_k cool. so you good?_

It all seemed a little too… _constructed_ to be spur of the moment, but Luke didn’t really believe that Michael would plan something like this out, so he pushed the thought from his mind and just went with it.

_I’m good_

There was a pause, during which Luke watched Michael start and stop typing three times, before he finally sent something.

_are you touching yourself?_

Luke would have snickered, because in any other situation it probably would have been funny, but in this case, he didn’t really find anything amusing. Maybe because he found himself just a little too interested in what made Michael get off, these days, when he would be woken up in the middle of the night only to have Michael trudge into the bathroom shortly after, when he would lie there and have that be the only thing he could focus on.

_Not yet_

_i am_

Luke’s heart panged in his chest, which felt tight and like it was swelling, with arousal and maybe something else, but he wasn’t totally sure and couldn’t identify it.

 _What are you doing_ Luke asked, holding his phone in his left hand, slowly dragging the palm of his right over his stomach until the heel of his hand caught on his hipbone. His dick was still mostly soft, laying over his thigh, and he bit his lip to resist touching himself until Michael answered his text.

He watched the bubble on the screen, longer than it would take for a normal reply, but he figured Michael was probably just using one hand on his phone, instead of stopping whatever he was doing to himself with the other one. Luke’s fingers twitched a little as he shifted his hips, rolling them a little in anticipation of what he—what _they_ —were about to do.

Tapping his thumb on the screen just as it began to dim, Luke watched Michael’s message pop up.

_just touchin my dick rn. kinda slow. feels good tho. u should too_

_Ok_ Luke replied before he even thought about it, because he could have given a much, much better response than just two letters. He licked his lip and moved his hand over, taking his cock and nestling it in the crook between his thumb and the rest of his hand, circling his fingers around it as he slowly moved his hand up and down.

He glanced at his phone screen, but Michael hadn’t said anything else, nor was he typing, so Luke tried again.

 _I’m touching myself now_ he tapped out, and thank fucking god for autocorrect, at least, because all the typos he just made wouldn’t have been anything close to keeping the mood right. _Slow like you_

 _oh i like that_ Michael sent, and then immediately began typing again. _like you doing what im doing_

 _Yeah?_ Luke replied, smirking a little without even realizing he was doing it, or how into this he suddenly was. _You would_

_of course i would its hot_

Luke managed to type out “You thi” before Michael sent _youre hot_ , and then Luke paused. He knew that Michael could probably see that he had stopped typing, or maybe that he was “still typing” (how did iPhones even work?), but he was sort of at a loss of how to continue. Was this just part of the sexting thing, or was it a legitimate confession? Luke should just chill the fuck out, probably—Michael was just into it, too, like Luke was.

He deleted the word and a half he’d gotten out, and started over, his heart pounding with nerves and just a little bit of excitement. _Tell me what you’d do to me then._ It was a challenge, he knew, but he hit Send anyway and watched as the message was Delivered and then **Read** 2:51AM.

Except the time changed to 2:52AM and then 2:53AM and Michael still hadn’t replied, or even started typing. Luke’s chest was feeling tight again, but not in the same way it had before, when he was elated; it was in a bad way, a really shitty way that told him he should have just left things well enough alone and said “You too” to Michael, instead of asking for more.

He dropped his phone facedown, flat against his bare stomach, releasing his cock—which, he noticed, had gotten considerably stiffer with his manhandling—and sighed, loudly.

“Hey,” Michael said, suddenly, right next to Luke’s head, and Luke yelped, his phone sliding off of his body and onto the bedsheets. He tried simultaneously to tuck himself back in his pants and appear casual, like he hadn’t just asked Michael to talk about smacking his junk around.

“Sorry,” Michael went on, before Luke could say anything to him, “I just—I don’t know if you actually meant that, but like…” He trailed off, not once looking away from Luke’s face; Luke could only tell that was where he was looking because Michael was lit from below by his own phone screen. Luke met his eyes, held his gaze. Michael’s pupils were wide and deep in the near dark of the bus aisle.

“Come with me?” Michael asked him, and Luke knew that he would, even though it was nearing 3 in the morning, even though there was a chance that Calum or Ashton were awake and listening. He knew, in the very fiber of his being, why Michael was asking Luke to follow him.

With only a nod to convey that he was going to go with Michael, he shifted himself to the edge of the bunk and slipped out, the curtain brushing over his bare skin and tickling him. Michael was in the back lounge before Luke even righted himself, but his bare feet were sure on the carpeted floor of the bus and he was beside Michael in an instant.

Michael looked at Luke before tapping a switch on the wall of the bus, the sliding door between where he and Luke were, and the sleeping area, moving closed.

Michael was wearing a hoodie and a pair of plaid, flannel pajama pants, that Luke thought were probably Ashton’s. He couldn’t tell, really, in the dim lighting up near the ceiling of the bus. These particular lights always stayed illuminated as long as the bus was on, so Luke could see Michael’s features, but just barely, could just make out his silhouette.

“Did you really want me to tell you?” Michael asked, his voice quiet, nothing at all like what Luke would imagine Michael was like before sleeping with someone.

“I—” Luke said, unsure of the answer he wanted to give, but the real reason he’d stopped speaking was that his dick had given an almighty twitch at the thought of Michael doing _anything_ to him, and given how hard he still was, given that he was just wearing a pair of sweats and thin cotton underwear, he felt incredibly exposed and suspected Michael knew that it had just happened.

“‘Cause I will,” Michael said, and Luke met his eyes, his expression a mix between shocked and desperate to know.

“Then do it,” Luke replied, nodding, looking down his own body for a moment at where his sweats were tented out from his front, which was entirely visible even if Michael couldn’t tell how Luke’s cock felt so sensitive, he would swear that he could pick out every single thread that made up the fabric of his underwear pressing against him.

“Sit down,” Michael said, his voice firm, confident, but Luke knew him well enough that he could pick out the slight nervous tremor. Luke backed up a couple steps, until his legs hit the edge of the couch cushion and he sat, looking up at Michael, who moved onto the couch next to him, sitting back on his knees.

“This is almost like sexting,” Luke whispered, and Michael laughed, his face close enough to Luke’s that his breath, still minty from brushing his teeth, tickled his cheek.

“Almost,” Michael said, his lips brushing against the shell of Luke’s ear, and Luke actually shuddered, his entire body contracting and releasing from just that little bit of stimulation.

And Michael noticed, which made it all worse, somehow. Luke could hear the smirk on his lips when he spoke again, leaning even closer, the strings from the hoodie brushing against his bare arm. “You know what?” Michael asked, and even though he was smug, he didn’t push it.

“What?” Luke said, glancing over at him, his nose nearly colliding with Michael’s.

“Before, in my bunk,” he began, and Luke shifted a little bit away so that he could hold Michael’s gaze. “When I was jerking off,” he clarified, like there was a possibility that Luke might not have known exactly what Michael was talking about (Luke noticed, even in the near-darkness, Michael’s smirk grew more pronounced). “I was thinking about you.”

It was the kind of confession that maybe seemed obvious, but closed up in the back lounge as they were, the only noises each other’s breathing and the hum of the bus, it felt bigger than it might have been. Because obviously he was thinking of Luke. He’d been talking to Luke. But Luke understood it as much more than that—Michael had been thinking of him the same way he’d been thinking of Michael, and it was that thought that made Luke lean forward, made him take Michael’s lips with his and kiss him, almost desperately, the way he’d been wanting to kiss him every single night he woke up to Michael asleep in the next bed, whimpering and gasping in his sleep, his hips bucking up into nothing but the friction of the sheets.

If it surprised Michael, he didn’t show it; instead, he kissed Luke back, wasting no time in lowering his hand to Luke’s thigh, palm splaying out over his pants, unintentionally pulling them taut around his hard dick.

“Fuck,” Luke murmured against Michael’s lips, and Michael just smiled back, moving his hand down between Luke’s thighs, cupping the inner part, then smiling wider when Luke opened his legs just a little.

“Michael,” Luke said, and Michael hummed in response, squeezing down on Luke’s leg. Luke continued. “I want you to show me what you were thinking about.”

Michael paused mid-squeeze, his hand tight around the flesh of Luke’s leg, the pants mostly in the way, but he could still feel it, feel each one of his fingers individually.

“Will you?” Luke asked, not even giving Michael a chance to reply. It was just—sort of urgent. Luke had been forced to think of Michael, jerking off, coming all over himself, while he laid in bed in a dark hotel room, and he was kind of ready to move this all along already. Not that Michael knew there was anything to move along but—whatever.

“Yes,” Michael breathed out in answer, kissing Luke again, their lips pressed together, tongues parting each other’s mouths to deepen it between them, as Michael moved his hand to Luke’s cock, his palm cupping the head, curled around it as he moved it in a circle around the tip.

“Shit,” Luke sighed, leaning his head back against the wall of the bus, exposing his neck to Michael.

“Even better than I thought,” Michael said, leaning down to lick over Luke’s throat—it was audacious but Luke _loved_ it, loved the idea that Michael had thought about this too, and even though he wanted to pursue that topic, there was no way in hell he was going to interrupt what he was pretty positive was going to become a handjob to ask stupid questions.

Michael’s hand left Luke’s cock, drawing a small whimper from him, before his fingertips pressed into the front of his stomach, slipping beneath his sweatpants and underwear, his fingers wrapping around Luke’s cock. Luke stared down between his legs, even though he couldn’t see Michael actually touching him, taking in the flex of his wrist, the way his forearm looked in the low lights, the shadows cast on his pale skin.

“Fucking, fuck, kiss me,” Luke managed to demand, his voice shaky and quiet, and Michael was kissing him again just as he curled his thumb over the head of Luke’s cock.

Luke felt Michael shift beside him, just a little, and it didn’t take Luke long to figure out, by the way he felt Michael’s hand repeatedly hitting his side, that Michael was jerking himself off. Luke inhaled sharply, his breath rushing into his lungs as he pulled away from Michael.

“Let me,” he mumbled, his hand scrabbling against Michael’s hoodie, down his front, trying to find a break in his clothing to let his hand join Michael’s in his pants—it was too rushed to be precise, and Michael pulled both of his hands back, Luke’s dick smearing precome against the inside of his underwear as Michael released him.

“Michael,” Luke said, just edging on begging him to be allowed, but Michael hummed.

“One sec,” he said absently, pulling the hoodie up instead of unzipping it, leaving it on as he wriggled halfway out of his pants, letting them rest around his thighs. Luke lowered his gaze to settle on Michael’s hips, the dark hair below his navel even darker in color with what little light there was.

“Still ok?” Michael asked, mostly wanting to be sure, because his dick was out and kind of aimed right at Luke.

“Yeah.” Luke reached one hand out toward Michael, fingertips brushing over the side of his length, not wrapping around him as much as just touching him gently, his skin soft but warm, edging on hot, and Luke liked how it felt in his hand. It was so different from touching himself.

Shooting a quick look up at Michael to confirm that he was good to go, Luke closed his hand into a fist around Michael’s dick, stroking him, even and slow, and Michael settled himself back down onto his knees, sitting on them beside Luke, leaning over him just a little to begin jerking him off again.

It didn’t take much for Luke to angle his face toward Michael’s so their lips met again, kissing slowly, languidly, taking their time even though their hands were moving quicker now. Luke could feel Michael’s cock leaking precome onto his arm as he neared the head, but it just spurred him on; likewise, Michael was flicking his wrist with purpose, not wanting to tease Luke anymore in favor of actually getting him off.

Their breathing was quickening, lips moving together, parting to make room for their tongues as they felt only each other in the late hour of the morning, and Luke’s hips were bucking up before he even realized it, wetting the inside of his underwear and Michael’s hand with come, gasping softly and moaning as he broke the kiss, pressing his face instead into the softness of Michael’s sweatshirt.

“Clo—I’m close, Luke,” Michael whined, and Luke made a conscious effort, through the afterglow of his orgasm, to keep his hand moving over Michael, slicking him slightly with his own precome, jerking his dick off fervently until Luke felt Michael streak his side with semen too, stripes of it landing on his bare skin, and he couldn’t even give a fuck because Michael was whimpering and nosing at Luke’s hair, kissing the crown of his head until Luke looked up, and then Michael was kissing his lips, his cheeks, his chin, and Luke was laughing at the enormity of it all. He was covered in Michael’s come, with Michael’s hand still half down his pants, and he was laughing.

“Is that really what you think about?” Luke asked after a couple of minutes, when they’d both straightened themselves out, tucked their cocks away, used Michael’s hoodie to clean their come-stained skin as best they could.

“You really wanna know?” Michael asked in return, looking over at Luke, cheek resting on his shoulder. It made for an awkward angle, but Luke nodded, keeping his eyes on Michael’s face.

“I dream about it,” Michael answered after a moment’s internal deliberation. “I dream about you. A lot.” Another confession that wouldn’t have come if not for the late hour, for the ambiance of the back lounge being perfect for baring one’s soul.

“I know,” Luke said, and this time Michael did look surprised; he lifted his head and faced Luke, features scrunched up in confusion. “I mean, you...kind of wake me up sometimes.”

Michael’s jaw dropped, for a second—then he quickly recovered, though Luke could tell he hadn’t been expecting that. “Shit, Luke, I—”

“It’s...I mean, it’s fine. It’s not like I...God,” Luke said, huffing a short, unamused laugh. “It sounds so creepy. You’d end up making all these, like, sex noises in your sleep and I’d wake up. And then I’d just...lie there and listen to it.”

“Dude,” Michael said, clearly judging him just a little bit, but laughing at the same time.

“Shut up,” Luke said, hitting his elbow into Michael as best he could, though he was pretty sure he mostly just caught the back of the couch. “At first I was pissed because you kept waking me up. Then I started wondering who the fuck you were dreaming about fucking so often. Now I know.”

Michael’s expression had softened just a touch while Luke was speaking, and he chuckled a little as Luke finished up. “Now you know.”

Settling himself back on the couch, letting his head rest against the cushion behind him, Luke said, “So we were both creepy.”

“Uh, excuse me,” Michael said, indignant, but with an audible smile in his voice. “Last time I checked, people can’t pick what they dream about. But you totally had a choice, lying there listening to me have a sex dream, you fuckin’ sketchy-ass motherfucker.” He shook his head, trying to be serious, but then burst out laughing, and Luke couldn’t stop himself from laughing too.

“But you were dreaming about me!” Luke insisted, unable to stop laughter from disrupting his words. “Thus it ceases to be creepy!”

“ _You_ didn’t know I was dreaming about you,” Michael said, kicking at Luke’s feet just to be a little shit. “Thus, it’s extra creepy. Maybe I was having an innocent sex dream about—”

“Did you really just use the words ‘innocent sex dream?’” Luke asked, snickering, and then Michael had tackled him out of nowhere, landing on top of him, fingers digging into his ribs, tickling relentlessly.

“You’re all cocky now that you think I like you,” Michael said, resisting Luke’s attempts to get Michael off of him.

“I _know_ you like me,” Luke said, breathless, tears in his eyes from laughing. “You probably had a wet dream about our first kiss.”

“I totally did,” Michael said, grinning, settling down between Luke’s legs as he parted them to let Michael rest against his front. “I almost came tonight when you kissed me.”

“That’s pathetic,” Luke mumbled, lowering his head against the couch as Michael’s lips trailed over his jaw, then the underside of his chin.

“Your complete and utter creepiness makes me weak,” Michael said, ignoring Luke’s huff of laughter. “What can I say?”

Luke shook his head, amused, because they both knew, really, that neither of them needed to say anything, as their laughter died down and their breathing synced up. They laid together, fingers laced, kissing lazily, until Luke reminded Michael that they should return to their bunks and get some actual sleep. They didn’t stop holding hands until they had to, climbing into their separate bunks.


	2. If you’re gonna fall, I’ll let you know that I will pick you up

Michael’s phone buzzed in his pocket—he felt it against his thigh, and so did the fan he was hugging, her hip pressed into his leg as they posed for a selfie she was taking with him. They were outside the venue after a show, the crowd outside having dwindled until there were only 20 or so people waiting, which they deemed small enough to make an appearance.

The four of them had wandered out hesitantly, followed by a plethora of security guards, because if any of the fans waiting to see them made any sort of raucous noise, then they’d be busted and surely more would come. But there was only one lone shriek, and the fan in question quickly covered her mouth, then lowered her hands to her chest, then began fixing her hair even though, to Michael, it looked fine.

“Hey,” Ashton greeted the group, and as quick as blinking, they were all surrounded, security guards sticking to them like glue, fans asking for pictures or saying things that they could barely differentiate from the other chatter going on around them. They took their pictures, signed some proffered items, and made some small talk before Ashton decided he needed to get back inside. Calum went with him, because of course he did, but Michael and Luke remained for a few more minutes.

“Thanks so much, guys,” Luke said, lifting a hand and waving before taking a few steps back—security allowed him to pass by and head onto the bus with Calum and Ashton, but Michael was in the middle of taking photos, still, group ones this time, so he was stuck outside for another couple minutes.

“I think you got a text,” the girl pressed against his side said, as his phone vibrated again.

“Yeah,” Michael said, removing his arms from around the two fans on either side of him and backing up, toward the gate where Dave was standing watch, still. “Gotta get going, probably. Thanks for coming out tonight, we love you guys,” he said, ignoring the rush of the crowd trying to touch his hands or take one more picture of him, slipping inside the gate, which clanged shut behind him and was locked swiftly.

“Bus,” Dave said, pointedly, looking at Michael, who was fishing his phone from his pocket.

“I’m coming,” he said, checking the screen and seeing two texts from Luke.

“Now, Michael,” Dave admonished, because the group of fans were still by the fence, even though the venue’s security guards were trying to usher them away.

Michael thoroughly ignored him, though, walking slowly, mindlessly toward the bus as he checked what Luke had sent him. And then stopped fucking short.

The fans were still behind him, calling his name, wanting him to come back, and Dave was standing beside the open bus door, rolling his eyes because Michael probably found some goddamn _Pokémon_ he needed to catch, but the reality of it was so much worse. So, so much worse.

 _Look what you’re missing_ the first message said, followed by a picture of Luke in the shower stall of the bus, naked, water dripping down his front over his hard cock, and Michael actually marveled at how he’d taken such a picture without getting his phone wet before he realized that he’d probably just doused himself quickly and then taken a picture, because sexting was all about setting the mood, and holy fuck why was he thinking about the _logistics_ of the damn photo when Luke had just sent him a goddamn picture of his dick, clearly propositioning him?

 _fuck_ Michael answered, looking up for the first time in a couple of minutes, and meeting Dave’s gaze. All of a sudden, the entire world came back into focus, the sounds and sights that had been blocked out by his focus on Luke, and he laughed a little, trying to play it off, like getting so distracted by a cell phone was a normal occurrence.

“Bus, please, Michael,” Dave said, as kindly as he could when he was well aware they were already running late, gesturing for the boy to climb on board.

“Yeah, sorry,” Michael said, rushing past him and barreling down the aisle to the lounge where Ashton and Calum were seated.

“You all right?” Ashton asked, looking up from the acoustic guitar in his hands, still strumming a chord or two, Calum sprawled out beside him.

“Where’s Luke?” Michael asked, voice hitching a little in his throat, desperate even though he had no reason to be.

“Shower, I think. Why?” Ashton said, quirking one eyebrow up in curiosity.

“Just...wondering.” Michael gave a half-assed answer and flopped down on the couch beside Ashton, glancing over at them. “What are you playing?”

“Nothing,” Ashton said, barely thinking anything of the abrupt subject change. “Just messing around.”

“As usual,” Michael said, snickering, lifting his hips a little to slip his phone into his pocket, pushing Luke (and his wet, hard dick, just begging for a sucking) out of his mind.

“Excuse me,” Ashton said, as Calum chuckled a little on his other side. “Just because you don’t know your way around a guitar doesn’t mean we all have the same problem.”

“Harsh,” Luke said from the doorway to the lounge, a towel wrapped around his waist. Michael couldn’t tell if he was still hard or _what_ , but there was a suspicious bump directly below his bellybutton, a few inches under the edge of the towel, that Michael would put money on being half a stiffy, at least.

“Call ‘em like I see ‘em,” Ashton said, absently, not paying attention in the slightest, unlike Calum, who pushed himself up to a sitting position and took in how Michael seemed to be staring at Luke like a hungry animal.

“Why don’t you get dressed,” Calum suggested, crossing one leg over the other, his ankle resting on his knee, spreading his arms out along the back of the couch. “Short drive tonight. Thank god we’re in a hotel.”

“Might turn in early,” Luke said, tossing a short look toward Michael before he stepped back near his bunk, pulling a pair of sweats from his bag, and a plain t-shirt.

“Why?” Michael asked, a little too zealous, earning him another look from Calum.

“I’m tired?” Luke answered, smirking a little. He leaned a bit further into his bunk.

None of them could see what he was doing, but Michael felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Calum had turned back to watch Ashton’s fingers on the neck of the guitar as he hummed softly along with what he was playing, so Michael surreptitiously lowered his hand down to his side, tugging his phone free.

 _You had your chance_ Luke’s text read.

 _not fair i was with fans_ Michael replied, scowling just a little, like a spoiled child not getting his way.

 _Well, I already jerked off_ —Michael nearly whimpered right in the middle of reading the text— _and i really am tired, lol. Another time_

_but a hotel would make it so easy_

“Who are you texting so secretive?” Ashton asked; in his haste to try to convince Luke to mess around again, he hadn’t noticed that he’d drawn Ashton’s attention too, as well as Calum’s.

“No one,” Michael said, glancing at his phone and seeing Luke’s reply— _Another time ;)_ —before looking up at Ashton and Calum, both looking at him, incredulous.

“What, did you manage to find a booty call in the five minutes you were alone outside?” Luke asked, and Michael turned to him, feeling betrayed and, frankly, a little attacked, since this was all his fault to begin with. Best to play it off.

“I am shocked and appalled,” Michael said, making sure his phone was securely stowed away, thanking fuck he had remembered to set up his fingerprint passcode, because the numerical one was Calum’s birthday and the whole band knew it. He pressed his palm to his chest in mock offense. “Here I am, being _giving_ and taking extra pictures with our fans, and you accuse me of just wanting sex.” So maybe just wanting sex was the truth—but he wanted it with Luke, so they had no _actual_ idea. Ergo, it didn’t count.

“Shame on us,” Ashton said, but he was smirking. Michael scowled, not amused at being the butt of the joke, huffed and stood up.

“Let me know when we get to the hotel,” he said, brushing past Luke to slide into his bunk. He wondered momentarily if Luke would climb into his own bunk, above Michael, and change his mind about being tired so they could at least text again (that dick pic was literally _burned into his mind_ ), but he heard Luke’s feet pad quietly away toward the lounge.

“Give me that guitar,” Luke said, and Michael heard the metallic slide of the strings as it was probably forcibly pulled from Ashton’s hands. Michael sighed and buried his face in his pillow.

–

“I told you I’m tired,” Luke mumbled to Michael, shaking his head. They were standing in the hallway, each by his respective hotel room door, Luke’s already open.

“Yeah, but, I thought—” Michael began.

“You’re more than welcome to come in and have a cuddle,” Luke said, and Michael could tell he really meant it. “But I’m really fucking tired, Mike.”

“It’s cool,” Michael conceded, shaking his head and waving his hand as if to try and convey to Luke that he should forget the entire thing. So Luke didn’t want to fool around with him anymore. Instead of seeing that as the horrendous exaggeration it was, Michael could only convince himself that that was the truth.

“Goodnight,” Luke said, stepping closer to Michael and brushing his fingers across the back of Michael’s hand. “I promise. Another time.” He gave Michael a small smile, stifled a yawn, and entered his hotel room.

“Fuck,” Michael muttered, as the door swung shut.

“The hell are you still doing out here?” a voice said behind him, and Michael turned to see Calum’s face peeking out of his door, the room behind him half-lit.

Michael’s brain quickly tried to fabricate a lie, but one didn’t come quick enough so he just told the truth. “I was talking to Luke.”

Calum smirked, then stepped out of the room. “I was gonna go hit the vending machine. Want to come with?”

“Sure,” Michael said, looking around like anyone would give a shit that they were out in the hall. The hotel itself was pretty inconspicuous, and they hadn’t seen any other people except for one hotel employee when they’d just arrived on the floor, who was wearing a suit and looked like he was in a big rush to get to one of the rooms beyond theirs.

“Why didn’t you call room service instead?” Michael asked as they ambled down the hall; Michael assumed Calum knew where he was going.

“This is quicker,” Calum said, reaching into the pocket of his basketball shorts and jingling some coins around.

Michael only nodded in response, and it wasn’t until Calum stopped walking and they entered the small alcove that housed the vending and ice machines that he realized Calum was still eyeing him a little.

“What?” Michael asked, trying to seem indignant, unfairly scrutinized, but Calum’s voice was light when he replied.

“Nothing,” he said. He fit a few coins into the slot on the vending machine. “Just kind of wondering what’s going on with you and Luke.”

“What?” Michael asked again, his voice slightly higher-pitched this time, clearly nervous.

“You just seemed jumpy on the bus,” Calum said, looking over his drink options before pushing two buttons. The machine hummed and the bottle of soda rattled into the tray for him to pluck it out.

“Jumpy how?”

Calum scoffed. “Asking where he was, bugging out when he said he was tired. You just seemed weird tonight.” He pushed past Michael back out into the hallway, glancing over his shoulder at him. “You want me to get you a soda, too, buddy?” he asked, putting on a voice like he was talking to a child.

Michael snickered a little, knowing what Calum was doing, and shook his head. “No thanks, _Dad_.” He laughed, and Calum snickered too, as the pair of them started walking back down the hall.

“So,” Calum said, breaking the silence as they reached his room. He slid the keycard into the lock and propped the door open with his foot. “Let’s talk.”

“Talk about what?” Michael asked, even as he stepped closer to Calum, clearly wanting to be allowed to enter the room.

“Whatever you want,” Calum said, leading Michael inside, the door shutting behind them. “The show tonight.” He kicked off the flip-flops he’d been wearing on his socked feet and hopped backward onto his bed. “The day off we have tomorrow.” He twisted the cap off the bottle of his soda. “Luke.”

Michael took the bait, even though he knew he shouldn’t. “What about Luke?”

Calum smirked, shrugging one shoulder as he took a sip of his drink. “You tell me.” He criss-crossed his legs, tucking his feet up underneath his knees, and held Michael’s gaze, even as he stepped closer and sat on the end of the bed.

“You really wanna know?” Michael asked after a minute, his face turned away from Calum, not giving anything away.

Until that moment, Calum hadn’t even been certain that there _was_ something to know, but now he was honestly intrigued. “Yeah.”

“I jerked Luke off,” Michael said, so plainly and matter-of-factly that it honestly took a second for it to sink in for Calum.

“Wait, you _what_?” he asked, capping his soda and placing it between two pillows so it wouldn’t fall over. “You _what_ Luke?”

“I jerked him off,” Michael said, turning a little, a smirk on his lips but worry in his eyes, like Calum might disapprove.

Calum, however, appeared completely at a loss. “You—wh—why? _How_? When?” It wasn’t really as unbelievable in the grand scheme as he was making it out to be, but god _damn_ he wanted to know how that had come about, especially since it had been the absolute last thing he expected to come out of Michael’s mouth.

“Jesus,” Michael said, rolling his eyes, lips pouting. “I don’t know which is worse: That Luke blew me off tonight or that you wouldn’t believe that Luke might have actually blown me off tonight.” He winked to drive home what he was really saying.

“Ok, ew,” Calum said, shaking his head just a little. “I just—how did that even happen?”

“Well, when two boys like each other very much—”

“You know what I meant!” Calum said, cutting him off, closing his eyes and trying to keep from laughing. “Why are you always so difficult?” He failed at that, giggling a little despite himself.

“I prefer to think of myself as adorable but I can see how you’d think otherwise.”

“Will you just answer the question?” Calum asked, because now he was genuinely curious. Michael seemed to sense that, because he just shrugged a little, then leaned back on the bed, resting with his hands flat behind him, his legs crossed just like Calum’s.

“It just...I mean, it just kind of happened. I know—’sounds fake, but ok,’ right? But it’s...mostly true. We were texting last night and it kind of turned into sexting—”

“ _Last_ night?” Calum repeated, surprised that it had happened to recently, but also not that surprised at all. Michael definitely liked to kiss and tell. He was surprised that it had stayed secret for this long.

“Yeah, just—so we were sexting, right, and then we went into the back—”

Calum made a noise of disgust. “The back where we were just sitting?”

“Yes, you probably have my jizz all over your pants—will you let me finish?”

“Fine, sorry,” Calum said, grimacing at where he’d hung his jeans over the desk chair on the other side of the room. Those weren’t good to wear again until they’d been washed, he decided.

“So we went into the back and...he kissed me, and I kissed him back, and then...mutual handjobs for the win?” Michael said, straightening up and shrugging with both hands palm-up.

“I guess so,” Calum said, snickering, picking his soda up again and taking another long sip. “So, are you gonna do it again?”

Instead of the immediate answer Calum was expecting, Michael chewed his lower lip, his hands wringing slightly in his lap. Calum leaned his head to the side a little, trying to catch a glimpse of Michael’s face, but he was too in-shadow from the lamp behind him. “Mike?” Calum tried again.

“I mean, I wanted to, but,” Michael said, voice low. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what?” Calum asked, shuffling backward on the bed and nestling into his pillows.

“I mean—he kind of did blow me off, so.”

“Like, literally, or…”

“Literally as in I thought we’d fuck around tonight and he said he was tired.” Michael said this with a finality that clearly stated he believed whatever he and Luke did was a one-time thing.

“He did look kind of dead on his feet.”

“I mean, I _guess_ , but it’s probably more like he just changed his mind,” Michael argued. He knew full well that he had a picture on his phone that proved that he was just taking being rejected a little too harshly. Maybe because he’d thought his best friend would always be kind of a sure thing.

“Didn’t you say he made the first move?” Calum asked. 

“Well I sexted him first—” Michael began, but Calum cut him off.

“Yeah, but you said he kissed you first, right? So that’s good, no?”

Michael shrugged. “I guess so.”

“So, you’re probably gonna do it again,” Calum concluded, sipping his soda again. The bottle was nearly empty now.

“I…” Michael considered it, tipping his head back and forth as he did, then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess, probably. He pulled a you before.”

“He what?” Calum asked, placing the bottle between his legs as he extended each foot, pulling his socks off.

“Sent me a picture of his dick.”

“Seriously?” Calum asked, gleeful, not even mad about the jab at his questionable past decisions. “Let me see.”

“...Calum.”

“Dude, come on. I don’t want to see it just ‘cause it’s Luke.”

Michael blinked. “Then why do you want to see it?”

Calum balled his socks up and tossed them to the floor beside the bed. “‘Cause it’s Luke?”

Michael laughed, then just shook his head and pulled his phone from his pocket. He tapped in his passcode (“Aw, you still have it as my birthday?” Calum teased, tickling Michael’s thigh) and pulled up the text message.

“Oh, shit,” Calum said, leaning closer as Michael turned the phone toward him. “So this is what girls feel like when guys send this shit to them.” Michael rolled his eyes and turned the phone away, but Calum caught him by the wrist, studying the picture. “Mine was better.”

“Ok, let me get this straight. You are actually comparing your nudes with Luke’s.”

“I mean, you’ve seen both. Mine was a video so it’s clearly better by default.”

“Well,” Michael said, wiggling the phone from side to side, “this dick has been in my hand, so I’m kind of biased.”

Calum snickered, one corner of his mouth turned up at the corner. “You should probably give mine a try to see which is really better,” he said, and as soon as the words left his mouth, his expression changed to anxious.

“Oh my god, what?” Michael said, giggling a little, not entirely because of nerves.

“I don’t know why I said that,” Calum said, hurriedly. “It’s just been too long since I had a halfway decent handjob, I guess, but anyway, feel free to go to your own room whenever you want. See you tomorrow.”

“I can’t believe you’re _jealous_. Of _Luke_ ,” Michael said, laughing louder now. Ashton was next door, he thought, and he’d probably get annoyed if Michael kept this up. But Michael couldn’t stop—Calum was fucking precious, and the look on his face was priceless.

“I am not jealous of _Luke_ ,” Calum specified, twisting open the cap of his soda bottle before tightening it, repeatedly. 

“Stop being all...like, coy, or whatever,” Michael said, as Calum repeated the word “coy” under his breath and rolled his eyes. “If you want me to jerk you off I’ll fuckin’ jerk you off.”

“Why do I feel like this is going to end up with us just daring each other to do shit to each other’s dicks until one of us punks out first?”

“Ok, that won’t happen because I’m not even a little drunk right now,” Michael said. “But, I mean,” Michael said, sliding a little closer to Calum so that his knee was against Calum’s thigh, “I’d do something you dared me to do right now. Within reason.”

“Within reason,” Calum echoed him, looking over at Michael. He was smirking, and that made Calum smirk too. “You think you’re being all clever making me think this shit is my idea. You just want to get off, don’t you, you don’t care if it’s with me or Luke.” Convinced he was right, he crossed his arms over his chest, kicking Michael’s leg a little bit.

“If that were true, would you let it happen?” Michael asked. He’d been desperate for _something_ since Luke sent that picture before, and with Luke out of the picture, Calum seemed his next best option. It wasn’t like he and Luke were exclusive (or even _anything at all_ ), so Michael figured he was free to do as he pleased, with whoever he pleased. Hell, Luke had even been the one who suggested Michael might have found a booty call for the night. (He was also definitely trying to embarrass him, but Michael was choosing to believe that part was irrelevant.)

“Honestly?” Calum was saying, the apples of his cheeks round with his smile. “I think I might.”

And suddenly, as though he’d flipped a switch, all humor, all levity, was gone from their demeanors. Calum was still smiling, but his eyes were fixed on Michael’s lips, which parted just a little as he considered speaking, but changed his mind and instead kissed Calum. It lasted for about two seconds before they both started laughing again, but they didn’t see fit to pull away from the kiss, instead letting each other’s soft breaths tickle their respective cheeks. It seemed...just the right way for them to kiss each other.

“It’s weird, right?” Calum whispered against Michael’s lips, his hand daring to ghost over Michael’s thigh. “Kissing each other?”

“Little bit,” Michael agreed, but that didn’t mean he regretted it; he kissed Calum’s lips again, surprised that he liked it, that he’d never thought about it before, that in all the time they’d been friends, neither of them had ever wanted to try.

Calum’s lips closed on Michael’s lower lip for a brief moment before he caught them again properly, in a real kiss, and then they both pulled away, Michael’s mischievous eyes bright. 

“Think of your dare yet?” Michael asked, grinning, and Calum licked his lip, shaking his head, before his eyes settled on Michael’s lips again, dark pink in the low light of the room, and then he nodded instead.

“Yeah,” he said, in lieu of actually telling Michael shit.

Michael waited a few extra seconds, in case Calum decided to clue him in, but when he didn’t, Michael squeezed Calum’s wrist, his hand still on his thigh. “What?”

“Blow me,” Calum said, in probably the least seductive way he could have mustered.

“Wow,” Michael said, mock offended. “Well, when you ask like that how can a boy resist?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Calum said, his tone just as teasing as Michael’s. “Let me try again.” He pulled away from Michael, shifting to sit on his knees instead, then reached up to cup Michael’s face in his hand, letting his thumb brush over his lower lip. “Suck me off, baby,” Calum murmured, his words just audible, but this time...it was a _lot_ better.

“Oh my god,” Michael said, unable not to give a short, nervous laugh, because that was entirely too much for him to even consider handling. His hands were on Calum’s hips before he even recognized that he’d totally fallen for it, 100%, but he couldn’t give a fuck about that now. He’d literally been thinking about giving a blowjob since he saw Luke’s dripping wet dick in that shower picture before, and now Calum was giving him exactly what he wanted. How could he possibly pass that up?

Michael rolled down the waistband of the basketball shorts that Calum was wearing, the movement facilitated by Calum rising to stand on his knees, and it was when Michael saw that the trail of hair below his bellybutton just kept going, wasn’t covered by any other garment, that he realized that Calum didn’t even have any underwear on. Michael was still in his goddamn skinnies and Calum was already half-naked in front of him. God _fucking_ damn it, that was hot.

“You done this before?” Calum asked, unsure if it was even appropriate to do so, but wanting to know anyway.

“No,” Michael said, honestly, looking up at Calum, managing to stop looking at his dick, but just barely. “You?”

“I’ve never given one,” Calum said, looking down at Michael’s face; his cock was just slightly arching away from his body in his peripheral vision, close to Michael’s mouth but not quite close enough. “First time for everything,” Calum continued, and Michael’s chest swelled a little knowing that he intended to reciprocate.

“Right,” Michael agreed without thinking about what he was saying, reaching one hand for Calum’s cock, but Calum moved backward before Michael could touch him. He sat back against his pillows again, slipping the shorts off completely and dropping them beside him on the bed. If he was nervous at all, or self-conscious, he wasn’t showing it—which Michael appreciated, because it allowed him to sweep his gaze all over Calum’s lower half, taking in his thighs, which were muscular, _thick_ , and he liked them, not to mention the bottom of his abdomen, visible just below his shirt. He wanted to see more of Calum’s bare skin, all of it, really, but he wouldn’t ask for that—he didn’t want to make shit weird.

“Is this ok?” Calum asked, assuming it would be—he liked this position, because it allowed him to keep one hand in his partner’s hair, and also gave him the chance to move his free hand all over their back and sides if he wanted to.

“Yeah,” Michael said, crawling toward Calum on all fours before lowering himself down between his spread legs on his elbows. Michael arched his back so he could look up at Calum, who was looking right back down at him. Their eyes met for a brief second before Michael’s hand found its way around Calum’s length, stroking him a little bit to get him harder before taking the head between his lips.

Calum bit the inside of his cheek, biting back any noises he might make. Michael was moving slowly, carefully, clearly not wanting to rush because he was still getting used to having a dick in his mouth. Not that it was even very far in—most of his efforts were focused on the head, his hand moving quickly over the shaft to keep it good for Calum, because he didn’t want to be totally shit at this and make Calum regret it too (like Luke— _stop thinking about Luke_ ).

He trailed his tongue over the head, making sure to tease the slit with the tip, and if he could have grinned he would have when Calum made a small noise of pleasure above him. It was a whimper, nothing more, really, but it still made Michael feel exponentially proud. He sucked a bit harder on the head, hoping that this would be enough to make Calum come, especially since his hand was jerking him off into his mouth.

Michael closed his eyes as he felt Calum’s strong fingers curl into his hair, tugging softly on his blonde locks as he rolled his hips, just a little bit, into Michael’s face. Michael hummed loudly, and Calum hummed in response, the vibrations on his cock feeling fucking perfect.

“Mikey,” Calum whispered, and Michael hummed again, trying to take a little bit more into his mouth. He was taking ragged breaths through his nose, forcing himself to keep Calum’s cock in his mouth because it really wasn’t even that far in, even though he could tell his jaw would be tired after this. He closed his lips around Calum and sucked as he pulled off, his hand moving upward too, tight around his length.

It drew a moan from Calum’s lips, and he leaned his head back, squeezing tighter around Michael’s hair with his hand balled into a fist. It wasn’t the best blowjob he’d ever gotten, but— _Michael_.

Michael didn’t risk taking Calum any further into his mouth than he already had—instead, he continued what he was doing, sucking hard as he pulled his mouth off of him nearly all the way, the ridge of the head passing his lips, before he moved back on, his tongue teasing the head until he felt a burst of precome, and moaned softly at the taste. Calum reached down with his free hand and held Michael’s wrist; not to stop him, but to feel like he was involved, somehow, to feel Michael feeling him. Michael seemed to understand—he worked his hand a little slower over Calum, but didn’t stop jerking him off into his mouth, knowing that he would need that stimulation since Michael was doing a downright pitiful job of taking much more than the head into his mouth.

Above him, Calum had lowered his head to look at Michael, his face angled down, watching as his slowly bobbed his head back and forth on his dick.

“Mikey,” Calum whispered, and Michael angled his face up toward Calum’s, looking at him as best he could with his mouth still on his dick. Calum whimpered at the look on his face, at how pink his lips had gotten from his efforts, and Calum released Michael’s hair from his hand, gently brushing it back off his forehead as his hips twitched upward on their own. “Fuck,” he mumbled. “Almost there.” He chuckled a little.

“Mm?” Michael hummed, and Calum just nodded in response, threading his fingers through Michael’s hair again, absently.

“I’ll tell you,” Calum said; he was just guessing at what Michael wanted to know, but he figured it had to be that. His hips rolled upward again, and while that had been a conscious move on Calum’s part, his hips bucking up just after wasn’t. He tightened his hold on Michael’s hair. “Move—Michael, off,” he warned, and Michael moved away from him, lapping at the precome beading at the tip before pushing himself onto his knees, still working his hand over Calum, who leaned forward toward Michael. He understood what Calum wanted a split-second after, so Michael kissed him again, grinning even though Calum was practically panting against his lips, his breath puffing out from his lungs, and finally, Michael felt Calum tense and release below him.

Calum was quiet when he came, gasping shortly and swallowing thickly as his semen landed all over the bed between them and on Michael’s forearm, and Michael wasn’t sure if Calum was just quiet by nature or if he was holding back. It didn’t bother him, though—he just kept kissing Calum until his body relaxed, slumping back just a little against the pillows.

“You might be better than Luke,” Michael said, joking, and Calum huffed a laugh, his eyes squeezed shut, though he opened one to peek at Michael.

“I’ll prove I am,” he said, voice still a little shaky, and pushed himself off of the pillows to move off the bed. His t-shirt was long enough that it would have covered his dick, but he was still half-hard, gradually growing flaccid again, so the hem of his shirt rested on top of his semi. Michael snickered but rolled onto his back, unbuttoning his jeans and shimmying out of them the best he could, pushing his underwear down too. He toed off his shoes and slid the rest of the way out of his jeans, until he was left in just a shirt as well.

“I like how we’ve both just committed to nothing on our lower halves,” Calum observed, chuckling.

“You started it,” Michael said, kicking his socks off as well. They landed on top of his crumpled jeans on the hotel floor.

Unlike Calum, who had been soft when Michael started on him, Michael was half-hard too, his cock chubbed up just from sucking Calum off. Calum looked down at him from where he was still standing beside the bed, but before Michael could move away from where he was sitting on the edge, Calum lowered himself to his knees, his hands moving to the insides of Michael’s thighs.

“Oh, ok,” Michael said, looking down at where Calum was inching closer and closer to him, on his knees.

“Yeah?” Calum asked, looking up at Michael, like maybe he’d changed his mind.

“Yes,” Michael hissed, and Calum laughed. He left his right hand on Michael’s thigh, taking his dick in his left, and leaned forward. He really had never done this before, but he knew what _he_ liked done to him, so he figured he could have some ingenuity and incorporate that into what he was going to do to Michael.

First, he dragged the tip of Michael’s cock over his lips, parting them only after a couple of passes, and taking as much as he could before he felt like he was going to gag. His jaw was stretched—Michael’s dick felt thick and hot in his mouth, but he closed his lips around it and sucked, moving a little further onto him just for bragging rights. He felt the head of Michael’s cock brush the back of his throat, and he pulled off quickly, not wanting to fuck this up by being too confident.

He felt both of Michael’s hands move into his hair, combing through his curls, as he twisted his hand around Michael’s cock, covering the part that wasn’t in his mouth. His skin was soft, especially the part that had been in his mouth just a moment ago, slicked slightly with his saliva.

Michael sighed loudly above him, and Calum was spurred on, pulling off most of the way and licking the head, his tongue moving around it in a circle before he sucked on the slit, his lips closed around barely any part of Michael’s dick except for just the tip.

“ _Fuck_ , Cal,” Michael said, probably too loud, but it was clear that neither of them gave a damn, because Calum sped his hand up, moving it faster, his pinky finger hitting into the front of Michael’s body each time. Calum decided he would focus his mouth on the head, just like Michael did, and use his hand on the rest of his length. Instead of sucking like Michael did, though, Calum tried to use his tongue, cradling the head on it, the muscle undulating against the underside, before he swirled it around the tip, lapping at the slit at the same speed he was moving his hand. He was going quickly, and Michael had lowered one hand from his hair to the bed beside him, gripping tight onto the edge of the mattress, trying to keep composed.

Which was harder than it seemed, because Calum might not have had the most finesse ever, but he knew how to use those plump, perfect lips the right way to drive Michael insane, and Michael was squeezing Calum’s hair into his fist before he knew it, tugging his head back. Calum moved with him, moved off his dick and looked up questioningly, though one look at Michael’s face told him all he needed to know.

His eyes were heavy-lidded, his breath was coming quickly and Calum thought for a moment that he could probably pick out the pounding of Michael’s heart if he listened hard enough—so Calum just doubled his efforts with his hands, using both on him. His left worked over the shaft, moving up and down Michael’s length, while he used his fingers on the head, his thumb pressing against the slit, his index finger tracing the underside of the head, and Michael let out a low, guttural moan as he shot all over Calum’s shoulder, streaking the front of his shirt with his come, missing getting some in his hair by inches.

Calum laughed as Michael came down, flopped backward onto the bed, weak, his chest still rising and falling quickly. Calum clapped his hands on Michael’s thighs, making the boy on the bed gasp a little in surprise as Calum used him to push himself back up to standing. His knees hurt a little and his jaw was sore, but he liked it. He liked having Michael in his mouth more than he thought it would, and he honestly hadn’t expected that blowing one of his best friends would lead to him having all these...unexpected realizations about himself. He actually didn’t want to dwell on them, so he wouldn’t.

Pushing aside every thought in his head besides _Michael_ , Calum shrugged off his shirt and dropped it to the ground—another piece of clothing he couldn’t wear until it was washed. He crawled onto the bed, wondering for a moment if he should put an arm over Michael but deciding, ultimately, not to.

“That was fun,” Calum said, and Michael turned to look at him. His eyes narrowed after a moment.

“You’re naked,” Michael observed.

“Yes,” Calum said, nodding. He laid his head on his arm and smiled.

“I’m not sure if I should also be naked or if we should just stop being any kind of naked,” Michael said, laughing, and Calum snickered.

“I’m not sure if it matters anymore,” Calum said, reaching out to run his fingers through Michael’s hair, before messing it up completely just to screw with him. “We’ve been _inside_ of each other. We’ve transcended the need for clothing.”

“Maybe you have,” Michael said, tugging his shirt down a little, even though it wasn’t long enough to cover him. “But I’m staying over tonight, and I’m wearing something to bed.” He pushed himself up to grab his underwear from where they were all tangled in his jeans.

“I’m not,” Calum said, rolling onto his back and spreading himself out all across the bed, giving Michael a view he probably never wanted, ever.

“Ah, bromance,” Michael said sarcastically, pulling his underwear up around his hips, adjusting his package between his legs before climbing onto the bed with a very satisfied, very naked, Calum.


	3. I felt this thing I can’t replace

It wasn’t unusual for Michael to wake up with his body entwined with another person’s, especially considering how touchy-feely his band was most of the time, but he had to admit that it was pretty unusual for him to feel a hard dick pressed into the small of his back. He opened his eyes slowly, almost afraid of what he’d see, but as soon as he did, he realized it was Calum’s arm slung over his side, and the previous night came back to him. It didn’t suddenly flood into his mind the way that kind of thing was usually described, it was more like he remembered the events as they had happened: The short walk to the vending machine. The confession about hooking up with Luke. The kiss. The hooking up with Calum part.

Right. He’d slept with two dudes in his band in as many days. He was either a slut or a badass. Maybe he was a badass slut. Or a slutty badass. Either was probably good.

Anyway, Calum’s morning wood was poking right into his back, and Michael wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Like, he supposed it was flattering, but at the same time...was he supposed to do something with it? Should he wake Calum up and inform him that he had a hard on? Or offer to take care of it for him? It was probably the polite thing to do, considering they were not only bandmates but best friends and now a potential hookup for the foreseeable future.

“I feel like I want to know what has you looking so deep in thought, but also like I don’t,” Calum said, jerking Michael out of his reverie.

“Your dick’s hard,” Michael said, which was basically what his thoughts had amounted to.

Calum lifted his head from the pillow, snickering a little as he looked down his body. “Thank you.”

“No, thank _you_ ,” Michael said. “Glad I could help.”

“Will you go back to your room?” Calum said, rolling over and pulling the sheet over himself, giving himself at least the illusion of modesty. “We probably have to go soon.”

“What, you don’t want to have breakfast with me?” Michael joked, and Calum just shook his head, not looking over. Michael ordinarily would have pushed, but it didn’t seem like the time.

“Ok, yeah. I gotta grab a shower anyway. Um,” Michael said, waiting for some kind of response from Calum, who looked very much like he wanted Michael to just go. “Hey,” Michael tried again, reaching over and hitting Calum’s arm with the back of his hand.

“What?” Calum asked, and his voice sounded a little strained.

“Are you ok? Are _we_ ok? I mean, last night was just...you know, it was…” he trailed off, because he wasn’t sure what Calum wanted to consider the previous night, so he figured maybe he could let him fill in the blanks.

“What?” Calum said again, and this time he sounded distracted. “Yeah, no—we’re fine.” He shifted a little to look at Michael, his eyes somewhat distant but a small smile on his face. “You ever just accidentally realize something and it’s a lot to deal with?”

If Michael were anyone else, he probably would have taken the hint and left, but unfortunately, Michael was Michael.

“Oh, totally. It sucks, right?” Michael frowned sympathetically. 

Calum stared at him, then just nodded, because sometimes Michael needed things put into black and white. “So I kind of need to deal with it by myself.”

Michael realized just a little too late what Calum had been going for initially and let out a short, awkward laugh. “Shit, yeah. Of course. Sorry, my bad.” He slipped out of the bed, fully aware of how undressed he still was, and hurried around for his clothes, pulling his jeans on as quickly as he could. He really did need to shower, so he’d just get dressed for real later.

“Ok,” Michael said, after his clothes were in his arms, his hotel key pinched between two fingers. “Later.”

“Later,” Calum said, waving a little, but still not moving from where he was perched on the edge of the bed, hands folded across his lap, most likely covering whatever was left of his erection after Michael’s obliviousness.

Michael spared one final glance back at Calum before heading into the hallway and turning to his right, facing the door that he’d opened for half a minute to toss his bags in before trying to proposition Luke, and slid his key into the reader. It whirred and the light turned red. Michael frowned, pulled the card out and then tried again. The light blinked on. Red.

Scowling, Michael shifted his dirty clothing further into the crook of his elbow and pushed the card in, forcefully, a third time. The lock turned red again.

“God damn it,” he said, louder than he should have, probably. He took a breath, deciding to try the key for a fourth time before putting on his shirt and heading down to the lobby.

“Why are you out here?” someone said from behind him, and Michael glanced over his shoulder to see Luke, also shirtless, though still in his sweats from the night before.

“My door won’t open,” Michael said, rolling his eyes a little, because, _obviously_.

“Yeah, I can see that,” Luke said, yawning a bit. “I mean why are you out in the hallway at 7 in the morning?”

“Oh,” Michael hummed, turning around to face Luke and leaning against the door. “I stayed in Calum’s room last night.”

“Your key wasn’t working yesterday either?” Luke asked, quirking an eyebrow up. “Why didn’t you tell Zoe? She’d have gotten you a new one.”

“It was. I mean, it did work, when we first got here. I don’t know why it’s not now. But I—you know, I was hanging out with Calum and then...you know.”

“What do I know?” Luke asked, not sure if they should be having this conversation in a hallway, but willing to, he supposed.

“We hooked up,” Michael said, and if Luke was angered by it, it wasn’t visible.

“Is Ashton next?” Luke asked, smirking. “Should someone warn him?”

“Shut up,” Michael commanded, feeling his cheeks warm just a little. “No.”

“Are you sure? I guess you’re going like...from youngest to oldest? Or maybe reverse alphabetical—” Luke began, but Michael spoke over him.

“I’m not—going any way. You...kinda blew me off last night, so I hooked up with someone else. So what?”

Luke scoffed, then crossed his arms over his chest. “I didn’t blow you off. I was tired.”

Michael studied Luke’s face, his own expression serious, then licked his lip nervously. “Ok. I believe you which means I fucked up and...you’re mad at me.”

Luke’s expression softened. “Wait, what?” he asked, but Michael was apparently on a roll.

“You’re pissed because I guess technically _I_ blew _you_ off and did stuff with Calum, when me and you never even figured out if there was a me and you in the first place—”

“Michael,” Luke said, tone harsh but voice low, wanting him to stop and listen. When Michael trailed off from his babbling, Luke snickered, unable to stop himself. “I’m not mad. Promise. That...whole thing—” he gestured vaguely at Calum’s door “—I mean, I...didn’t expect it, but. You can sleep with who you want.”

“I—” was all Michael got out before Luke interrupted him again.

“Next time invite me,” he said, smirking, before stepping back into his hotel room and closing the door, leaving Michael half-naked in the hallway, before he turned around and tried his room key one more time. The light turned green.

–

Calum really fucking wished Michael and Luke would shut the shit up. His dick was still half-hard, but that wasn’t his concern. His concern was the thoughts that wouldn’t stop whirring about in his head, the preoccupation he felt at what he’d done with Michael last night, but mostly the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about doing it again. With...someone else.

It wasn’t like Calum hadn’t ever imagined it before. He wasn’t uptight in the least, was pretty open to trying stuff in bed, and that one interview where he’d said his guilty pleasure was putting his fingers in his ass? Well, they say all jokes have a grain of truth to them, anyway.

Standing with a sigh, Calum made his way to the bathroom, closing the door and effectively silencing what he could hear of their voices out in the hall. Sleeping around wasn’t new to him, to any of them really, but Calum knew that the catalyst in all of his— _newfound realizations_ was Michael. Or—not Michael, necessarily, but that Michael was another dude. 

It was early in the morning, he’d noticed, when he glanced at the clock on the bedside table, but Zoe would surely be coming to get them soon for something, so it was better that he get ready now instead of worrying about rushing later. He turned on the shower, testing the temperature with his hand before stepping in, closing his eyes and letting the hot water run over his face and body before he took a deep breath. The steam filled his lungs and it made him feel just a bit better, even though ultimately he still felt like shit. Because...while he might have discovered something about himself, that didn’t mean anything in the long run.

It didn’t mean jack fucking shit because the weight of Michael’s dick on Calum’s tongue—fuck, just the way that they’d kissed—had brought to life so many different feelings inside of Calum that he thought he might burst with them all. Realizing that he might like men was one thing all on its own. Realizing that he might like Ashton was entirely another.

–

“Cal,” Ashton said, nudging him a little in the car as they left the hotel. “You all right?”

“I’m fine,” Calum said, much too quickly, and Ashton frowned to himself but left it alone. Calum was quiet when he wanted to be, and there was absolutely no way of getting him to speak if that was the case.

It was just, Ashton thought, this seemed different than Calum’s usual spells of quiet. He seemed distracted, or upset, instead of just introspective. That happened sometimes, too, and Ashton hated it. He hated feeling absolutely sure that his best friend was struggling with something and knowing, at the same time, he was unable to help just due to Calum’s nature.

Ashton turned around in his seat, looking back to Michael and Luke who were huddled together, thighs close, in the back of the SUV. Ashton’s brow furrowed, and he shook his head.

“Ok, what’s your deal, then?” he asked, tone accusatory.

“What?” Michael asked, looking up from Luke’s phone. Luke swiped something away and then looked up as well. “What?” he also asked.

“Why are you sitting so close together?” Ashton asked, reaching over the seat and gesturing at their legs, which were very much touching.

Michael looked down and shrugged, but Luke spoke. “Are you the seat police? Here to mandate how close people are allowed to sit? I hate to tell you but you should be facing forward in that case.”

“Ha ha,” Ashton said, rolling his eyes. “I just thought—”

“Leave them be,” Calum said, pulling down the brim of the beanie hat he was wearing, covering his eyes and most of his nose with it. “I have a headache and stupid fucking arguments aren’t helping.”

Luke let out a short laugh, simultaneously surprised and unamused, while Michael looked perturbed. Ashton turned back around, sitting properly in his seat, and leaned over to Calum. He kept his voice low, just in case the headache thing was true, though he suspected it was not.

“What’s going on, Cal?” he asked, but Calum just shook his head. “Cal,” Ashton pushed, again, feeling like he needed to, because Calum hardly ever snapped like that, and even more rarely snapped at _him_.

Ashton glanced over his shoulder at Michael and Luke; Luke was looking down at his phone again, and so was Michael, although he did flick his eyes up to meet Ashton’s gaze for just a brief second before looking back at what Luke was doing on the device in his hand.

“Cal,” Ashton said, voice so soft it was almost a whisper. He reached out and dragged two fingers across the back of Calum’s wrist. Calum’s arm twitched, like he intended to move his hand away, but he didn’t. “Later?” Ashton asked.

If he hadn’t been staring at Calum’s face, studying him intensely, closely, he would have missed the barely imperceptible nod.

–

Radio interviews were either perfect, or fucking awful. There was no in between, because either they’d get hosts asking them questions they’d never been asked before, or hosts asking them what they like in a girl. (Michael had decided that the next time they were asked this question, he was going to say he liked boys.)

Thankfully, that question didn’t come up; this particular promo would have to be filed into the “fucking awful” category just because Calum barely said two words that weren’t forced out of him. They filed back through the crowd of fans outside the station, pausing for pictures where they could, before being ushered back into the car.

“Is it later yet?” Ashton asked Calum from where they were nestled in the back seat, taking Michael and Luke’s spot from earlier. “Because what was that?”

Luke looked over the seat back at them, already a little worried about how this would go, because the last thing that they should be doing is pissing each other off before a concert.

“Nothing,” Calum said, staring out the car window as he pulled away from the curb, fans still clamoring to try and see them, taking photos of the car as it drove away.

“It really was nothing,” Ashton said, annoyed, mostly that Calum wasn’t speaking to him. That was far from the norm. “What’s going on, Cal?”

“Later,” Calum said, swiveling his head to look right at Ashton, his expression clearly asking for more time. “Ok?”

Michael had turned around now, looking between the two of them. He couldn’t help but think that this all had something to do with him, and what he and Calum had done the night before. Being a slutty badass really, _really_ wasn’t worth it. 

“Ok,” Ashton said, still a slight edge to his voice, but willing to concede to what Calum wanted, knowing that he’d talk later. Calum might be shirking talking about it now, but he never lied to Ashton.

The line outside the venue was tightly wrapped to the building, already, hours before the concert was set to begin, but the traffic of the city kept their SUV mostly hidden; if any of the fans noticed it, they might not have made the connection given the sheer amount of vehicles on the road.

The car entered the service entrance, which finally did clue the fans in to what was really going on, but once the garage door was shut behind them, they were safe from all the pressure and watchful eyes until they headed out on stage to soundcheck. They could leave the venue if they wanted, sure, but Calum couldn’t think of anything that he wanted to do less. He wanted to sit in the greenroom for a few hours, maybe nurse a beer or two, before the Q&A with their fans. 

A security guard and one of the employees of the venue, along with Zoe, led them down up a flight of stairs, through a corridor, and then down another, longer, flight of stairs, before opening a door to a large room.

“Here you go,” she said, as Zoe ushered the boys inside. “You can make yourselves at home in here. Please just tell Frank if you need anything,” she said, nodding to the security guard, who remained outside the room. He pulled his phone out of his pocket just as the door closed on himself, Zoe, and the chipper woman, leaving the boys alone.

Calum crossed the room immediately and took up residence in the corner of one of the couches, pulling his feet up. The rubber soles of his sneakers squeaked on the leather cushion, and Michael glanced at him, leaving Luke mid-sentence and going to sit beside him.

“Hey,” he said, a little too close.

(“Oh, seat police,” Luke said, singsong, grinning at Ashton, who shoved his shoulder and ignored him, instead grabbing a bottle of water and twisting the cap open.)

“Hey,” Calum said, which Michael deemed good. He tilted his head a little to the side, angling himself so he could see Calum’s face. “I know you’re being an emo kid and shit but, I just have to ask. Me and you are cool, right?”

Calum looked over at him, though he left his arms circled around his knees. He shook his head, almost like he was confused about why Michael would ask him that question. “Yeah, we’re fine.”

“Good,” Michael said. He put a hand on Calum’s forearm, giving it a small squeeze.

Calum glanced at the hand on his arm, then back up at Michael’s face; Michael was giving him a small, yet concerned, smile. “You didn’t hear this from me, but: If you need to talk, I can probably clear some time in my schedule.”

“Oh, thank you,” Calum said, finally cracking a smile before laughing a little, but just a little.

Michael squeezed his arm again, then stood up to return to Luke’s side. Calum watched him go, grateful for the invitation to bare his soul but knowing he wouldn’t take Michael up on it. There was only one person he needed to speak to.

“Want to explore?” Michael asked, nudging Luke’s arm with his elbow. Luke gave him a look, not really believing that he wanted to since they usually stayed put when given the choice, but Michael was looking back at him with an expression that said they should leave the room, so Luke shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure. Let’s go ask Frank for some directions,” Luke said, snickering, leading Michael over to the door. When they opened it, Frank was swiping furiously at his phone screen, clearly playing some game—Michael walked right over and looked.

“You still play Fruit Ninja?” he asked, looking up at Frank, who chuckled a little but didn’t stop playing. The door swung shut on the two of them as Luke also crossed the hall, leaning over to watch.

“They could have invited us,” Ashton said, though he didn’t really sound upset. Calum looked up at him and nodded in agreement, even though he didn’t really agree. He was perfectly content where he was.

“Can I sit with you?” Ashton asked, pointing toward the mostly-empty couch with his water bottle.

“Yeah,” Calum said, nodding, and scooching over a little further toward the arm of the couch, even though he was as close to it as he could possibly be.

Ashton crossed the room, sitting next to Calum but still far enough away that it wouldn’t be considered too close. He turned his body to face him, taking in how curled up on himself he was, and frowning a little at the sight. “Does this count as later?” he asked, voice soft.

“I think so,” Calum answered, looking at Ashton, head sideways, pressing his cheek to his knee.

“What’s going on?” The note of concern in Ashton’s voice was always too much for Calum; they were closer than two people should probably be, considering that their relationship could only ever be truly defined as “best friends,” but the true nature of it felt like so much more to Calum. He hoped it felt that way to Ashton too, but there was no real way of knowing unless he asked.

“I hooked up with Michael last night,” Calum said, deciding it was better to be blunt right from the beginning, instead of trying to play guessing games or leave out any extraneous details. No details in this were unnecessary.

Ashton’s eyes widened a little and he cleared his throat. “Oh, ok. Um. That is not what I expected,” he said, loosing a small laugh. “So...why do you seem so bummed?”

Calum kept his eyes locked on Ashton’s face, taking in his words, the way he looked. He seemed to have no problems with it, which was strange, or at least he thought so. He’d almost pissed himself with Michael admitted to screwing around with Luke. But Ashton didn’t even seem surprised.

“Why does it seem like you already knew that?” Calum asked, pointed and accusing.

“What?” Ashton said, shaking his head. “I’m—I didn’t already know it, because none of you ever tell me anything. I just—I thought something was really wrong, but hooking up with Michael isn’t that bad. I mean, I might have chosen differently, but—”

This was going nowhere. Calum straightened himself up, stretching his legs out in midair in front of him. “I was sort of worried about telling you.”

Ashton blinked; he wasn’t used to Calum interrupting him, but it didn’t matter. The man was having a moment. “Because...it was Michael? Or because it was a dude, because, seriously. Dude. I don’t care.” He laughed.

“No,” Calum said, dismissing those concerns from Ashton’s mind. “No, I honestly didn’t even think that I would...need to tell you until this morning.”

“Why this morning?” Ashton shifted on the couch, bending one leg and lifting it, resting it on the cushion between them. He settled the water bottle on his knee, holding it.

“Because I realized something.”

“What, you love Michael?” Ashton laughed, and Calum watched his smile spread easily, the corners of his eyes crinkle as they always did when he found something amusing, and Calum felt like his heart was being squeezed in a vise. “I’m the one who’s bummed, now, what about me and you? I thought our bromance would survive anything, man.”

Calum took a shaky breath, because he knew that Ashton wasn’t making fun of him on purpose, he had no idea of what he was really saying to Calum, but that didn’t make him feel any better about it. It was taking everything he had not to scream at him, tell him to shut the fuck up, or even worse, hit him, so he just sat stock still.

It took Ashton a couple, excruciating seconds to realize he’d fucked up, and then a second longer to realize he didn’t know why, and that meant he didn’t know what to apologize for. “Cal?” he said, just wanting Calum to look at him again, but his jaw was clenched and his eyes were focused on something across the room.

“Cal,” Ashton tried again, after a moment, and when Calum looked at him, his expression looked like a cross between hurt and anger.

“I’m really glad that’s so funny to you,” he said, and Ashton looked completely bewildered.

“Calum,” Ashton said, leaning forward, the look of concern back on his face. “I’m sorry, I—Talk to me, ok? Please?”

And Calum knew that he should, but it was just that he really, _really_ didn’t want to. But Ashton looked so apologetic, so _cognizant_ of the fact that he’d fucked up, that Calum knew he should explain, just so Ashton could get his chance to make things right.

“Please,” Ashton said again, not above begging when he could tell, somehow, that something big was at stake, all hinging on this conversation.

“Hooking up with him didn’t just...make me realize that I guess I like guys,” Calum said, blasé about his apparent sexual awakening (Ashton frowned, because if whatever he realized made Calum realizing he might not be straight into a statement like “I guess I like guys,” it was _Really Fucking Serious_ ).

“Ok,” Ashton said, blinking but staying silent, wanting to let Calum say what he needed to say.

“It made me realize, um...I guess I like you.”

The confession was met with silence, Ashton’s lips just slightly parted as he kept his eyes fixed on Calum’s. His first thought was to gauge if it was a joke, but he quickly suppressed that notion. He could tell just by Calum’s demeanor and body language that there was nothing funny about it (and he knew now just how bad he’d fucked up earlier). His second thought was that Calum was probably going to end up pretty disappointed, because Ashton was straight, never-even-looked-at-another-guy straight, and that was that.

Except—was that that? Because while it was true that he never looked at another guy, he and Calum were closer than Ashton had ever been to any of his other friends, including Luke, and Michael (whom he had known for longer than he’d known Calum). There had always been something between the two of them, something special that had just grown in the years since they’d gotten to know each other. It was easy for Ashton to believe that it was just best friendship, that Calum was a brother to him, the only other person who understood half the shit that went on in his brain.

But he could probably say the same about Michael or Luke; they were all in the same boat, in a band with an insane amount of fans, all dealing with the struggle of performing constantly and always being watched and watched over. It was just with Calum there had always been that little hint of something extra.

“You like me?” were the words Ashton chose to go with, small and disbelieving, because sometimes he didn’t think that there was anything about him worth liking. This was one of those times, because he’d unintentionally made Calum feel like shit, and even though it wasn’t on purpose, it still made Ashton feel like shit too.

“Yeah. Sorry,” Calum said, bitter, clearly believing that Ashton was dismissing him again. “I thought maybe you’d not be a dick about it, but hey, this is cool too.”

“Cal,” Ashton said, tone bordering on desperate now, desperate to be listened to but also _heard_. “I didn’t—I didn’t know that’s what you were gonna say, I didn’t think—I’m sorry, ok? I think you...could probably do better,” he said, trying for a joke, trying to make Calum smile. “But, I just...I don’t know. I think you should say something now.”

“What do you want me to say?” Calum said, and Ashton was glad to hear that he sounded just a little less annoyed.

“I don’t know. Tell me what you want me to say, maybe? I’ll say whatever if it means you won’t be mad at me anymore.”

Calum looked at Ashton, then took a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not mad at you. I guess, just.” He paused, looked away, then looked back. “Tell me that I’m not totally crazy for feeling this way?”

Ashton held Calum’s gaze, looking right into his brown eyes, so wide with worry that it was one-sided, that Ashton was going to tell him no, actually, he was crazy.

But Ashton didn’t think he could say that—not because he didn’t think it, which he didn’t, but because thinking about Calum made his breath come a little quicker, his heart feel bigger in his chest, and now that maybe, just maybe, feeling that way was all right, acceptable between the two of them, Ashton could tell Calum something too.

“You’re not totally crazy,” Ashton said, sincere, and he could tell that at the sound of his words, Calum’s body relaxed. “It’s just,” Ashton began, but stopped himself.

“What?” Calum asked, a slight edge to his voice again, because if Ashton said _anything_ shitty, he really was going to hit him.

“Just, thinking about it. What you said.”

“Which part?” Calum pressed.

“Hooking up with Michael made you realize you like me,” Ashton clarified, and holy fuck, hearing it from his mouth made it a lot more real to both of them.

“Oh,” Calum said, “yeah.”

At the same moment, however, Ashton spoke too. “Hearing you say it…” he started, stopping to make sure Calum was finished, then continued. “Hearing you say it. It just kind of makes you think, you know?”

Calum nodded, not sure exactly where this was going. 

“That maybe, just...me liking you too makes more sense than anything else,” Ashton said.

Calum felt like his whole body had been plunged into ice water, except for his heart, which was thrumming furiously in his chest, not sure if he dared hope—

“And...I kind of like that idea.”

Calum smiled. It grew slowly, gradual, the corners of his mouth lifting before his eyes followed, looking down at where Ashton’s knee was near his, because that was easier than looking into the eyes of the guy who just had the same realization Calum had been killing himself over since early that morning. 

They didn’t kiss like they probably would have if it had been a movie, and they didn’t hold hands like if they were kids in high school confessing feelings for each other, but the mood of the room had elevated so much that when Michael and Luke returned to find Calum and Ashton nestled together on the couch, both pairs of their feet crossed at the ankle and resting on the table in front of the couch, they just knew that things had gotten better. 

And that night, when Michael introduced “Vapor,” and he talked about love, and the world, and the way that he hoped things would be someday, it felt just a little bit different for the whole band. It felt fuller, realer, and all four of them could tell, for different reasons, everything would be different now.

–

“Hey,” Michael said, poking his head into the back of the bus. Calum was sitting by himself, phone tucked between his legs, the communal acoustic guitar that got passed around between all of them resting in his hands.

“Hey,” Calum echoed, glancing up at him. This seemed to happen often, one of them sitting in the back, playing the guitar until another one approached and made contact.

“Can I join you?” Michael asked, tapping his fingers on the wall beside where he was standing.

“Sure,” Calum said, absently. He picked up his phone with one hand, glanced at the screen, then unlocked it and tapped out a text.

“Who’s that?” Michael asked, stepping into the room and sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

“Ash,” Calum replied, putting his phone back where it had been a moment ago, then softly strumming the guitar strings, playing a muted version of “Invisible.”

“Ash?” Michael repeated, glancing at the doorway again, toward the bunks where he was pretty sure Luke was snoring and where he’d thought, at least, that Ashton was also sleeping.

“Yeah,” Calum said, picking the strings gently, keeping the music quiet.

“Wh...y?” Michael asked, unsure if he should; maybe the good mood from earlier had been misread.

“Sometimes it’s easier,” Calum said, shrugging. He plucked his phone from his lap again, read the text, then lowered his phone, apparently deciding not to reply before explaining his cryptic response to Michael. “We’re figuring things out.” Not that that actually helped.

“Figuring what out?”

Calum looked at his phone again and chuckled, then looked to Michael. “Ash says you’re nosy.”

“Tell Ash to stop eavesdropping,” Michael countered.

“You interrupted _us_ , Clifford,” Ashton called from the bunks.

Michael looked at Calum, then nodded toward his phone, and making a real effort to keep his voice quiet, asked. “Figuring what out?”

“To put it as simply as possible,” Calum said, typing back to Ashton without looking at Michael, but glancing up through the door at Ashton’s bunk. “Us.”

–

The hotel that night was a godsend. They’d driven through to the next state over, a long enough drive that all of them had a chance to grab a short nap, even though Calum and Michael stayed up late in the back lounge talking, avoiding the obvious topics of what exactly was going on between Michael and Luke, and Calum and Ashton, and instead stuck to challenging each other to play songs on the guitar that the other probably wasn’t familiar with. It didn’t go well, which meant it was hilarious.

They’d arrived at the hotel, Luke and Ashton well-rested, and Calum and Michael looking a little worse for wear but overall still upright. In the elevator, Michael was holding his room key with his thumb and middle finger, turning it round and round between them with the tip of his index finger; he was completely zoned out, his eyes trained on Luke’s lips.

The _ding_ , which sounded loud in the quiet of the hotel this late at night, ousted them all from their various reveries, each of them making his way to the room designated on the small envelope holding his key.

“Hey,” Calum said, voice low, to Ashton as he unlocked his door. Ashton’s lock opened, but instead of pushing the door in, Ashton turned to look at Calum, even as Michael and Luke both disappeared into the same room behind them, Michael laughing a little at something Luke had said or done.

“Yeah?” Ashton asked, watching as Calum slipped his key into the lock, opening his door.

“Why don’t you come hang out for a little?” Calum asked, and he knew immediately that Ashton would know why he was asking, would know that it wasn’t just to “hang out,” but Ashton’s face slid into that same, easy smile that Calum was used to, and maybe, he thought, Ashton basically being able to read his mind wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Yeah,” Ashton said again, the inflection this time much more certain. He shifted his bag higher up on his shoulder and followed Calum into his room, the door swinging shut behind them. He dropped his bag beside Calum’s, then bent down to untie his boots, kicking the shoes off as Calum walked further into the room, dropping onto the bed.

Ashton heard him snicker and glanced up, fairly certain that he wasn’t the butt of some joke, but still curious. “What?”

“Michael,” Calum said, tossing his phone down onto the bed beside him for Ashton to look at. He stepped closer as Calum pulled his shoes off as well, and picked up the phone, the text from Michael still visible on the screen.

 _great minds_ , it said, along with the eggplant emoji. Ashton chuckled and turned the screen off, handing the phone back to Calum, who just pocketed it.

“Guess we know what he and Luke are doing,” Ashton said, smirking, and Calum nodded, laughing too, as he shuffled back on the bed, bare feet digging into the comforter as he did, laying himself back against the pillows, sinking into them.

“You’re gonna fall asleep,” Ashton accused, lying down next to Calum, facing up at the ceiling as well, hands folded on top of his stomach.

“Not before,” Calum said, either leaving it at that or deciding not to finish the sentence.

“Before what?” Ashton inquired, looking over at Calum.

“You’ll just have to wait to find out.” Calum didn’t turn to look back at Ashton, who was still watching him, but Ashton saw the corner of his eye crinkle, his lips press together into a smirk, only half of which was visible.

“You being a tease already, Hood?” Ashton accused, rolling onto his side, propping himself up on one elbow.

“Me?” Calum asked, his smirk changing to a grin, turning his head just a bit to look at Ashton, who was slightly above him.

“Yeah, you,” Ashton said, face angled down just a touch, his loose hair falling around the tops of his ears, his dimples thrown into heavy distress by the lamp on the bedside table.

“Never,” Calum said, the smile not quite faded from his lips as he looked up at Ashton, who was leaning in toward him. Calum couldn’t help but part his lips barely a fraction as Ashton’s grazed his own, and while he wouldn’t qualify it as a kiss, it still made him feel the way his first kiss with anyone felt: lighthearted and weightless, _happy_.

Calum moved his hand to the back of Ashton’s neck, pulling him back down, this time kissing him for real, if not a little awkwardly—Ashton’s nose brushed his own in a way that made it clear the angle wasn’t right, but they both turned, corrected it, and their mouths fit together, lips parting to accommodate each other. Ashton could feel Calum smiling against him.

Slowly, taking care not to move too quickly, Ashton pushed himself astride of Calum, knees on either side of his hips, kneeling above him as they kissed again, and again, until finally Calum held Ashton close to him for long enough that he was able to deepen the kiss, Ashton’s lips parting for Calum, their tongues moving together until Ashton turned away, giggling, his lips still pressed against the corner of Calum’s mouth.

“What?” Calum asked, moving his hand from Ashton’s neck to tangle in his hair.

“I just—I feel like this is all moving so fast, you know? But at the same time not fast enough,” Ashton said, after a moment trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

“Yeah,” Calum agreed, not just looking into Ashton’s eyes, but taking in every detail of his face, like he’d never taken the time to look so closely before, and he wasn’t going to squander his chance now.

Ashton opened his mouth, ready to say something else, but changed his mind; he flattened himself down against Calum’s front just a little, pressing their chests together, resting his weight on his knees and Calum’s body, and kissed him again, one hand moving to cup his face, his thumb gently brushing over his cheek. Calum’s eyes slipped closed, and Ashton’s followed barely a moment after; it didn’t change anything, not seeing each other—Calum’s hands moved down over Ashton’s back like they’d done it countless times before. And they had, just not in this context—but how many times had he touched Ashton platonically, innocently, in nearly the exact same way, not knowing that it could mean more, or maybe that it did mean more and he was just too blind to see it?

Calum snagged Ashton’s lower lip in his teeth, sucking it between his own lips for a moment before kissing him properly again, until he felt one of Ashton’s hands snaking between their bodies. Calum gave one last kiss to Ashton’s lips before pulling back, looking down in the small space between their bodies, as Ashton’s fingers scrabbled against his shirt, trying to grab it and pull it up.

“You could just ask, dude,” Calum said, moving his hands to Ashton’s sides and pushing him backward, sitting up and tugging his own shirt off, before reaching for the hem of Ashton’s as well, working it off of him as Ashton lifted his arms. The height difference made it awkward, but by the time their shirts were both on the ground, the two of them were laughing, flat against the bed again, Calum’s arms wrapped around Ashton, hands splayed out on his back.

“Let me ask you this—’not before’ what?” Ashton said, settling himself down a little further on Calum’s body, his hips resting square on top of Calum’s, and the positioning wasn’t lost on either of them.

“Come on, man,” Calum said, looking away, smiling, embarrassed.

“Hey, you said it,” Ashton said, matter-of-fact, basking in Calum’s chagrin.

“It’s stupid,” Calum insisted, but Ashton leaned down again, closing the distance between them, tracing his lips over Calum’s jaw, then his cheek, finally stopping at his temple, where he pressed a kiss.

“Tell me,” Ashton pleaded, his voice soft in Calum’s ear, breath tickling his skin, and Calum groaned. “Tell me.”

“Not before I kissed you,” Calum said, squeezing his eyes closed so he didn’t have to see Ashton’s smug grin, even though he could hear his self-satisfied giggle.

“That’s not stupid, though,” he said, using Calum’s eyes being closed to his advantage and kissing him lower this time, down over his neck and shoulder, his collarbone, his chest.

“No?” Calum asked, eyes open again, watching Ashton’s mouth traverse his skin. It struck him for a brief moment that he was surprised at how comfortable Ashton was being with another guy, until he realized that was the actual stupid thing. Ashton knew what felt good on his own body, so it just made sense he would try the same shit out for Calum.

“No,” Ashton mumbled. “It’s very, very sweet and I can’t believe what a closet romantic you are, wait until Mikey finds out, he’ll be so jeal—”

“I can’t believe you’re thinking of Michael right now,” Calum said, mock offended, but unable to keep the smile off his face.

“Jealous?” Ashton said, finishing the word, but this time he was pointing the word at Calum as a question; he looked up, smirking, one eyebrow raised in curiosity, and Calum hit Ashton’s shoulder.

“You’re a dick,” Calum said, but when Ashton leaned in to kiss him again, he gratefully accepted it, draping his arms over Ashton’s back again, holding him close, not letting him move away—though his ulterior motive became clear after he rolled his hips up into Ashton’s, the denim of his own jeans and the thick cotton of Ashton’s sweats making feeling anything nigh impossible, but really, it was the thought that counted.

“Oh, ok,” Ashton said, lips still against Calum’s.

“Take them off,” Calum said, voice low; it wasn’t urgent, because his dick wasn’t hard yet, and he didn’t think Ashton was either—but it wouldn’t take long for that to change. “Let me up, come on.”

Ashton slid off of Calum, settling his feet on the floor as he straightened up. Calum moved his hands to his waist, unbuttoning his jeans as Ashton just hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his sweats; Calum watched him as he shimmied out of his jeans as best he could while lying down.

“What are you waiting for?” Calum asked, not really paying attention—he was kind of folded in half as he pulled his jeans off, inadvertently turning them inside-out.

“I’m not wearing anything under these,” Ashton explained, and that stopped Calum dead. Barely 24 hours prior, he was in the presence of another naked dude, and he was about to be 2 for 2 in as many days. _Impressive_ , he thought, nodding once to himself.

“So? I’ve seen you naked before,” Calum said, resuming pulling his pants off, though definitely keeping one eye on Ashton in case he decided to strip the rest of the way.

“Not like this,” Ashton said, and it wasn’t really that he was shy, or self-conscious, it’s just that it _was_ different than dressing in the same room, or taking a quick shower after a show.

“Ok,” Calum said, dropping the denim onto the floor beside where Ashton stood. “That’s fine. Just come here.” He moved over, giving Ashton room to climb back onto the bed beside him, before sitting upright, only in his boxer-briefs, which were tight enough to not really leave anything to the imagination as far as his dick was concerned.

Ashton knelt beside Calum, moving to sit, but Calum put one hand on his hip, stopping him, then mirrored his position, rising to stand on his knees opposite Ashton. “We cool?”

“I think so,” Ashton said, sounding calm, even though when he put a hand on Calum’s hip, Calum could tell he felt a little apprehensive.

“Ok,” Calum said again, voice even quieter than it had been, and inched forward, nearly against Ashton but not quite touching him. He flicked his eyes up to Ashton’s and whispered, “You can imagine I’m a girl if you want.”

Ashton burst out laughing, which was exactly what he wanted, because it not only diffused the tension, but it relaxed him physically, so that when Calum moved his hand from his hip to cup his cock through his pants, Ashton’s only response was a sharp intake of breath and to look desperately at Calum, for confirmation that they really were doing this, and there was no going back now.

Calum tilted his head up, moving his hand over Ashton’s length slightly, trying to get him at least a little hard, before leaning in. He let his lips barely brush over Ashton’s, not bothering to kiss him, but instead asking, “Still cool?” Ashton nodded, his mouth nearly against Calum’s as he breathed out his answer of “Yes.”

In lieu of a verbal answer, Calum kissed Ashton again, moving his free hand around Ashton’s side, his fingers slipping beneath the waistband of his pants, sliding them down over his ass. He didn’t want to pull his hand away from the feeling of Ashton’s cock slowly stiffening at his touch, but he did, using that hand to tug the pants down over him, exposing him fully; Calum felt him shiver a little at the difference in temperature, but he pulled his hands away to remove what he was still wearing, lifting one knee and then the other to slip the underwear off of his legs—they joined the rest of their clothing on the floor.

By the time he looked up again, Ashton’s sweats were around his knees, and a quick glance at his face told Calum that Ashton’s eyes were fixed somewhere around his groin. Calum wrapped his hand around his own cock, stroking himself softly, keeping his face angled down so his smirk at Ashton’s gasp was hidden.

“Should I—?” Ashton asked, and Calum just shrugged, licking his lip as he tightened his fist around himself. He didn’t care if they just jerked off in front of each other—there was something between them, and they’d both acknowledged it. This was just the beginning of it all.

“If you want,” Calum said, after a moment, his voice breathy and soft, his thumb and index finger teasing the head of his dick.

“Yeah,” Ashton said, even though he didn’t need to, and took his cock in his hand, too, following Calum’s lead and jerking himself off, slowly, his pants still forgotten around his legs.

Calum leaned in to Ashton, the head of his cock nudging his hip, followed closely by his fist, pushing briefly against Ashton’s front before moving away; Calum kissed him, the whisper of skin on skin audible even above the soft noises their lips made as they touched and parted, tongues slipping together for brief moments as they angled their heads differently, changing how they came together each time.

It took only another few seconds, just a couple more of Ashton’s whimpering sighs against Calum’s mouth, before he was grabbing Ashton’s wrist with his free hand, peeling his hand away from his dick, and taking it in his hand himself, moving his palm back and forth over his length, and then Ashton’s moans came louder, unbidden, unabashed, and he tucked his face into Calum’s shoulder, licking his neck, kissing him, biting down each time the heel of Calum’s hand reached the head of his dick.

“Fuck, Calum,” Ashton breathed, leaning further into him, his hands moving to rest on Calum’s body, his right on Calum’s shoulder, left on his waist. “So fuck—fucking good, shit.”

Calum turned his head to the side, nuzzling Ashton’s hair, smiling against the soft strands, then nudged him just a little with his nose. “Can I make you feel even better?”

“Yes,” Ashton agreed, not even knowing what he was agreeing to, not even caring. “Yes, yes please, Cal—yes—”

“I just—” Calum began, pulling his hand away from his own cock, slowing the one touching Ashton. “I want to make sure you’re cool with it first.”

“What is it?” Ashton asked, impatient and breathless, not wanting to talk, wanting _action_.

Calum moved slightly to the side, angling his body differently; he twisted his wrist, flicking his thumb over the head of Ashton’s cock, and moved his free hand to his lower back. Ashton sighed, leaning his head back a little, his throat taut, trying to keep himself composed.

Hesitant, and careful, Calum lowered his hand, slipping his middle finger between Ashton’s cheeks, curling it forward against his hole. Ashton took a breath, looking over at Calum sharply. He stopped.

“Too much?” Calum asked, not moving, not daring to yet.

The only response he got at first was another deep breath, Ashton’s chest rising and falling and then he was shaking his head, then nodding, then shaking his head again. “No. No, it’s...good.”

Calum pressed a kiss to Ashton’s shoulder, mumbling against it. “I didn’t mean I wanted to touch you, though,” he said, and Ashton just barely caught what he was saying. “I meant something else.”

“What?” Ashton prompted, voice just as quiet.

“I can show you,” Calum said, quieter still, and Ashton just nodded, moving his arm around Calum’s waist, pulling his front flush against Ashton’s side, his cock pressing against him.

“Show me,” Ashton said, his lips against Calum’s, kissing him one more time before Calum pulled away.

“Hands and knees,” Calum ordered, and he was actually a little shocked at how quickly Ashton did what he was told. He moved away from Calum, kicking his sweatpants off as he did, then moved onto all fours. His legs were pressed too tightly together to do anything, and he was crouching more than he was holding himself up, but he was essentially in the position that Calum needed him in, and he was fucking thrilled.

Because Calum just wanted to make Ashton feel fucking amazing, and only one thing he’d done in the past, that he always wanted to ask for no matter who he was with, but rarely did, was fucking amazing enough for him to try now. He settled himself down behind Ashton, moving his hands to his hips.

“Lean forward,” Calum said, knowing how ridiculous Ashton would probably feel with his ass up in the air, knees spread wide, but he obeyed, and Calum was so fucking proud that Ashton trusted him enough. They should have both realized this a long time ago, Calum thought, because they practically completed each other: Ashton was calculated where Calum was reckless, and Calum was excitable where Ashton was thoughtful, and yet they still managed to mesh together perfectly.

Ashton was in front of him, resting on his elbows, face resting on the pillows, and Calum worked the fingers of one hand between Ashton’s legs, parting them further than they already were, until he was spread mostly open in front of him.

“Jesus,” Ashton said, laughing a little, nervously. “Getting right up in there, huh?” It was hard to focus on how exposed to Calum he was, though, because his cock was hard, hanging heavy between his legs, and he could just hope that Calum would touch him again after he did whatever it was he wanted to show Ashton.

“Trust me,” Calum whispered, and Ashton shuddered a little at the feeling of Calum’s lips against the back of his thigh.

“I do,” Ashton answered, turning himself just a little to try and watch whatever Calum was doing. He caught his lip between his teeth, biting down on it just a bit as he felt Calum’s hands move to either side of his ass, parting him further, and then Calum’s warm breath between them. He closed his eyes, knowing what had to be coming, anticipating it, and yet he _still_ wasn’t ready when Calum’s tongue moved over his hole, tracing his rim in a circle.

Ashton took a shaking breath, not quite able to form words, as Calum licked over him in a flat stripe, humming quietly, his tongue pressing against him, firm, but not overly so. He repeated it a few times, lingering longer each time against his hole before pulling away.

“Cal,” Ashton said, his shoulder pressing down into one of the pillows as he twisted his body, needing to watch. Calum’s eyes were closed as he licked at Ashton, tasting him, lapping at him. He worked the muscle against Ashton’s hole, not really sure if he was trying to open him up or just make him sensitive, wanting him to feel every single lick and kiss he placed there. Ashton thought maybe he shouldn’t like this, that it should feel weird or gross but he couldn’t find it in himself to think so—he liked how it made him feel, how Calum was making him feel, how close it made him feel to Calum. He parted his knees a little more, and Calum squeezed his ass, moving his tongue all the way from the underside of Ashton’s balls, over his perineum and back to his hole, flicking the tip against him.

Ashton gasped out loud, pushing back against Calum’s tongue when he focused on his hole, the flat part working against him, licking him open, teasing him. Calum moved one hand to the side of Ashton’s thigh, no longer using him to brace himself; he knelt wide himself, lowering himself as much as he could to still reach Ashton and keep himself steady, then reached his arm around Ashton and took hold of his cock again.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Ashton said, just loud enough that Calum smirked a little, pulling back enough that he was just trailing the tip of his tongue against Ashton, moving up and down over him, dipping inside of him as much as he could with each pass over his hole. Calum dragged his hand up and down Ashton’s length at the same speed, feeling precome dripping out of the slit in the head of his cock, smearing it over his skin, the slight noise from the wetness arousing him even further, probably arousing Ashton too.

“Taste so good,” Calum muttered, pulling away barely far enough to say it, and Ashton squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing thickly. He never, ever thought he’d ever be doing this with anyone, much less Calum, but he had never been happier to do anything in bed, because Calum was making him feel absolutely fucking perfect in every single nerve ending in his body. His tongue against his hole, his callused fingers wrapped around his dick, the soft skin of his cock against Calum’s rough hand contrasted deliciously, and Ashton rolled his hips a little, wanting more of that friction.

“More,” he said, and Calum listened, leaning further into Ashton, working his hand over him a little quicker—as he lowered his other hand from Ashton’s ass to his own dick, jerking them both off at the same time. He wasn’t as close as Ashton, probably, so he rubbed the slit in the head of his cock with his thumb, alternating between that and his whole palm, cupping the head before sliding his hand down over his length, trying to work himself up enough that Ashton wouldn’t come too soon before him.

“Cal, _more_ ,” Ashton demanded, an edge to his voice, and Calum focused his tongue into a point again, working the tip against Ashton’s hole, working it into him as best he could. His cock was spurting precome out in big drops—Calum could feel them on his fingers when they moved over the head—and Ashton moaned in utter pleasure as Calum’s tongue finally breached him, moving inside of him, licking at him from the inside, working further into him, stretching his tight hole around it.

Calum’s wrist was slapping into his stomach at the speed and ferocity with which he was jerking himself off—not because he was afraid Ashton would come before him anymore, but because he was so fucking hot and turned on by eating Ashton out that he wanted to come, _now_. His rhythm faltered as he slid his tongue from Ashton’s hole, sucking on his rim instead, wetting him with saliva and then licking it back up, his hand still jerking Ashton off until finally, Ashton came with a cry, smothering it in the pillows in front of him, his hips twitching forward as he shot all over the bed below them, Calum’s hand milking the orgasm from him—and then from himself. He came, moaning against Ashton’s ass, his come streaking over the bedsheets as well as the backs of Ashton’s legs, his body shuddering as he pulled away. Ashton rolled onto his side and curled up on himself as soon as he did, body so, so fucking sensitive; Calum moved behind him, pressing his front against Ashton, and wrapped an arm over him. Ashton pushed his back against Calum’s front.

The question probably didn’t need to be asked, but he did anyway. “Did you like it?” Calum whispered.

“Yeah,” came Ashton’s response, almost instantaneous.

“So did I,” Calum replied, and that went without saying, too.


	4. I cannot live, I can’t breathe, unless you do this with me

A muted buzzing woke Calum the next morning. He squeezed his eyes closed, hoping maybe it would stop—which it did, before it began again. He squinted against the rays of sunlight streaming in through the cracks in the curtain and lifted his head from the pillow, arching his neck to look around the hotel room.

“‘S your phone,” Ashton mumbled from behind him. Calum wasn’t startled by a presence that he didn’t remember. To the contrary—he’d spent a long time the night before, fighting his weariness, memorizing the way Ashton looked when he was sleeping, his cheek resting against Calum’s bicep, eyelids fluttering every now and then.

“Y’think?” Calum answered, voice gravelly from sleep.

“Will you answer it already?” Ashton asked, impatient, rolling over and pulling the sheets further up his body. Calum looked over at him, taking in his body below the covers, pulled taut between them, above their bodies, his bare skin in shadow but still discernible, just slightly.

“Fine,” Calum groaned, pushing himself to sit upright on the edge of the bed, feet swinging off the mattress and landing on the floor. He stood, yawning, trying to locate his phone, which had begun ringing for a third time.

“D’you remember where I put it?” Calum said, rubbing an eye with a balled-up fist before lifting it and running his fingers through his mussed hair.

“Nn,” Ashton intoned, clearly wanting to stay in bed, asleep.

Calum walked toward the dresser, because that seemed like the most likely place, before his foot nudged his jeans and the buzzing noise got a bit louder. He looked down—the illuminated screen was poking out of one of the pockets. Squatting down, Calum snatched his pants from the floor and plucked the phone from them, checking who was calling, but as he looked at the screen, the call ended. He could see, though, he had a total of six missed calls: Two from Michael, four from Zoe.

“Shit,” he muttered, swiping open his phone and calling Zoe back.

“Sorry,” Calum said immediately, as soon as she picked up. “We’re getting up now.”

Ashton whined and rolled onto his back, his feet making vertical points in the bedcovers.

“Yeah,” Calum said. “Yes. Downstairs in twenty, got it.” He pushed the red circle on the phone screen and looked over his shoulder at Ashton, nudging one of his feet.

“How fast can you shower?”

–

“Why didn’t you call me back?” Michael asked, shoving Calum a little bit, to get him past the bunks into the back lounge. He smacked the switch and the door slid closed behind them. They probably only had a few minutes to talk.

Calum looked back over his shoulder at the door, then back at Michael, raising an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”

“I called you twice, why didn’t you call me back?” Michael’s words were rushed as he said them, and Calum just shrugged one shoulder.

“I called Zoe back,” he explained. “What the hell’s the big deal?”

Michael groaned and actually lifted his hands to his face, covering it for a moment before shaking his head, hitting his wrists into his forehead in frustration. “I needed to talk to you.”

“About _what_?” Calum asked, not quite worried yet, but a little perturbed that it was taking Michael this long to just say it already.

“About Luke,” Michael said—whispered, really.

Calum shook his head, not following. He needed much more information. “What about him?”

“I think I like him,” Michael said, the expression on his face making it clear that this was strictly between himself and Calum.

“You—what?” Calum asked, but before Michael had a chance to say anything, the door slid open behind them. Calum turned on the spot when he saw Michael’s face whiten.

“What’s going on back here?” Luke demanded to know, smirking, stepping into the lounge, followed by Ashton, who closed the door again behind him.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked, crossing his arms.

“It’s rude to open a door and not close it,” Ashton said, looking at Luke and Calum, who both seemed to think that was made up. “What? It is!” Ashton insisted, laughing a little, rounding both of them and sitting down on the couch along the back wall.

“Why was it even closed in the first place?” Luke asked, as the bus kicked to life, nearly knocking himself, Calum, and Michael off balance.

“We were talking,” Michael said, sitting down beside Ashton, hoping like hell that Calum would take his other side—but no, Luke did. He squeezed in between Michael and the wall of the bus and immediately tried to take up as much space as he could, space that wasn’t really available because the three of them weren’t small. Calum took his place on the other side of Ashton and there was even less space, then.

“What were you talking about?” Luke asked, leaning a little into Michael—either a ploy to try and get him to move over, or a legitimate attempt to be closer to him. After the previous night Michael spent in Luke’s hotel room, it was probably the latter, but...Michael could never be sure with Luke.

“You,” Calum answered, and Luke snickered, rolling his eyes.

“What about me?” Luke asked, voice edging on innocent, but when Michael looked over at him he could see he genuinely wanted to know.

“Nothing,” Michael answered, a bit too quickly, but Ashton cleared his throat, interrupting him just a little.

“I feel like, maybe, we need to have a band discussion,” Ashton said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, looking first at Calum and then at Michael and Luke.

“About _what_?” Michael asked, suddenly nervous that they could all see right through him, see that he kind of couldn’t stop thinking about his and Luke’s awkward fumbling as they made out in the dark, trying to figure out how to slot their bodies together, completely unfamiliar with how to _be_ with another guy but still loving it anyway. He couldn’t stop thinking about how looking at Luke’s heavy-lidded eyes when he came made his chest feel tight, or how Luke’s hands on him made his body feel hot and coiled and ready to explode.

“About what’s clearly going on,” Ashton said, and Calum gave him a look that was a cross between quizzical and concerned at just what he was going to say. Because he and Ashton had crossed a line last night, a very, very wide line that there might not be any going back over, and it seemed a little reckless of him to divulge that they’d confessed feelings for each other before they’d really even had a chance to discuss or dissect exactly what was between them.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked this time, a frown playing on his lips, head tilted slightly to the side. He was slightly less perturbed than Michael or Calum, but he did still feel a bit distressed—Ashton always took things way too seriously, and Luke honestly felt a little like he was about to be scolded by his dad, or something, for sleeping with another boy in the band which would, like, complicate everything because they worked together and spent all their time together. Ashton didn’t even need to say anything—Luke was apparently all over that already.

“Well,” Ashton began, leaning back, lifting his elbows from his legs and replacing them with his hands, which fit around his knees. He took a deep breath. “There’s...been some developments.”

Michael, Luke, and Calum all paused, waiting for Ashton to elaborate, but when he didn’t, Calum finally spoke up.

“Yeah?” he asked, prompting Ashton to just say what was on his mind already. As far as Calum was concerned, waiting and imagining whatever Ashton was going to say was probably worse than what was actually going to come out of his mouth.

“Well now that I’ve built it up like this I feel sort of stupid,” Ashton said, giggling a little, unable to stop himself.

“Oh my god, just say it!” Michael said, turning to face Ashton from where he was sat on the couch.

“I like Calum,” Ashton blurted out, just saying it, and he turned to look at Calum, because asking for forgiveness was always easier than asking for permission.

“What?” Luke said, both of his eyebrows nearly disappearing beneath his bangs.

“Last night, we sort of...you know. I mean, we did some things. And I guess you probably knew that, Michael, because, like, you texted Calum, you know, the thing you did, so I’m guessing maybe you and Luke…?” Ashton said, trailing off but giving the sentence an upward inflection so it could technically be considered a question.

“Ashton,” came Calum’s voice from behind him. “This is weird. This is so weird. You’re making this so fucking weird.”

“I’m—” Ashton said, but Michael interrupted him.

“I like Luke,” he said, and this time, three pairs of eyes were on him, and his cheeks reddened just a little, flushing with the attention and his confession.

“What?” Luke asked again, with a bit more urgency this time.

“Don’t act like you couldn’t tell,” Michael said, his tone accusatory. Luke opened his mouth, then closed it, then licked his lower lip, then just shrugged. “Super,” Michael added, rolling his eyes.

“But I thought you and Calum—” Luke said, finally, but Calum spoke over him.

“No,” he said, leaning out from behind Ashton to look directly at Luke. “That just kind of happened, and like...I mean, it...I guess _pushed_ me in the right direction, but...it’s Ashton. Not Michael.” He didn’t have to clarify any further what he meant: Ashton was the one he wanted. Michael had, for all intents and purposes, just been his bridge to get there.

A very sarcastic bridge that was really great with his tongue, but a bridge nonetheless.

“Oh,” Luke said, glancing at Michael, who didn’t actually look upset by this news. “So you—” he gestured between Ashton and Calum, who nodded. “So that means you—” he pointed at Michael, who nodded too, but much more muted—timid, even.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Luke asked, looking at Michael only now.

Ashton turned to look back at Calum, under the guise of giving them as much privacy as they could get while there were still two other people in the room.

“Because it’s stupid,” Michael said. “I mean—the two of them,” he continued, pointing over his shoulder with a jerk of his thumb, “they’re clearly made for each other. But me and you? Just seems...like maybe it wouldn’t work out.”

“Why would you say that?” Luke asked, frowning, even though he knew what Michael meant. They were undeniably close, but they butted heads quite often—their personalities were probably too similar for them ever not to. But that didn’t change that Luke was still Michael’s best friend in the band.

“Self-sabotage?” Calum said, voice low, and Ashton snickered, nodding a little with his head leaning to the side, considering that to be probably the most likely reason.

“Shut up, Ashton,” Michael said, nudging him with his elbow, even though Calum had started it.

“I didn’t say anything!” Ashton said, rubbing his ribs where Michael’s elbow had collided with them.

“From now on you and Calum shall be considered a single entity. Your pain is his pain,” Michael said, turning a little to face Ashton, smirking at him. Calum snickered too, amused.

“Oh, that’s funny to you?” Ashton said, shifting himself in turn to face Calum.

“Yeah,” Calum said giving Ashton a cheeky grin.

“Can I just—Let me just get this straight. I hooked up with Michael because he was bored and basically had nothing better to do,” Luke said, ignoring Michael when he indignantly said “ _No_.”

“And then,” Luke continued, “Michael and Calum hooked up because I was tired.”

“...Yes,” Michael conceded.

“And _then_ , that made you realize you’re totally gay for Ashton, Cal,” Luke said, summing it up a bit too easily, really missing the entire point and depth of what had happened, but instead of letting Calum have the chance to refute that claim, Michael spoke again.

“Basically, yeah.”

“So...Ash, what, did you and Michael fool around too and we just haven’t gotten to hear about it yet?” He wiggled his eyebrows, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. “Spill.”

“Michael doesn’t have to be everyone’s sexual awakening, Luke,” Ashton said, chiding him a little, but he snickered. “Maybe it was...something that was there for a long time and I only just realized what it really was.”

“Oh my god,” Luke said, at the same time Michael laughed, immediately launching into a ridiculous speech.

“You’ve been secretly in love with Calum for decades, haven’t you? Millennia, even, probably. You were star-crossed lovers in all of your previous lives and only now have you found each other, finally realizing your love before it was too late—”

“Will you shut up?” Calum said, leaning across Ashton and hitting Michael on the shoulder.

“Too real for you?” Michael asked, chuckling.

“Sure, whatever,” Calum replied, rolling his eyes.

“Actually, though,” Ashton said, his voice sounding a bit too introspective for what he was about to say to be anything other than too serious and probably a bit odd. “Does it sort of feel like this was supposed to happen? I mean—we’re all taking this really well. I’m...I’m not even, like, mad that Calum slept with Michael.”

“It was just blowjobs, man—” Michael insisted, but Ashton ignored him, still talking.

“And like—Luke, you don’t care that Michael, and Calum,” he said, not explicitly restating what Michael had just told them, but Luke just shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah,” Luke said, “I guess.”

“It’s just a little too...perfect,” Ashton said.

“You’re just trying to find a flaw,” Calum pointed out, and Michael nodded.

“Not everything has to have a bad side. Maybe there is no bad side. Maybe the flipside of whatever this is, is just another silver lining,” Michael said, leaning back against the couch cushions behind him, and Ashton looked at him, studying Michael’s face. He was being serious, which was enough of a shock in itself that Ashton couldn’t even be surprised when he found himself agreeing with Michael’s assessment.

“So, what, we all confess our undying love for each other, all four of us?” Ashton asked, incredulous.

“Yeah,” Luke said, shrugging. “Why not?”

“Do you seriously mean that?” Ashton said, because hooking up with Calum was one thing, but potentially also hooking up with the rest of his band was quite another.

Luke met Ashton’s eyes, clearly not considering it anymore—he’d already done that, and had come up with the answer. “Yeah.”

“I—And you two, too?” Ashton asked, touching first Michael’s thigh, then Calum’s wrist.

“I mean,” Michael said, laughing. “You’re the only one I didn’t get, yet, so...”

“It sort of goes without saying,” Calum said, not acknowledging Michael, just looking directly at Ashton. “We’ve all always been...just, an _us_ , you know? It makes sense. The four of us, it makes sense.”

Luke hummed in agreement, and Michael nudged Ashton, though much gentler this time. Ashton felt a small, half-smile tugging at the corners of his lips as he looked at Calum, but it grew slightly more pronounced when he turned to look at Michael, his elbow still gingerly pressing against his ribs.

“Makes sense,” Ashton agreed, giving a small, nearly imperceptible nod of the head, shrugging one shoulder.

–

“When I said you were the only one I didn’t get yet, I meant that I hoped you were feeling left out, you know,” Michael said, grinning at Ashton from across the elevator, his smug smile reflected on all four walls.

“I wasn’t,” Ashton said, glancing at Calum even though he knew they were all watching him. “Sorry.”

Calum smiled a little, smug in his own right, as the elevator chimed brightly and the doors slid apart, letting the four boys out into an empty corridor.

“So, whose room should we christen?” Michael asked, lifting his bag a bit higher on his shoulder and stepping out of the elevator, turning to walk backward as the other three filed out behind him.

“What do you mean?” Calum asked, pulling his suitcase behind him, its wheels rolling unevenly over the carpet.

“What do you mean, what do I mean? I thought we figured this all out on the bus. The four of us, going at it.” His backward steps slowed, the other three coming to a stop before him. “Like, an orgy.” They stared blankly at him. “I can’t be the only one who thought that was what we were talking about.”

Luke barely managed to stifle a laugh. “You’re so goddamn easy,” he said, pushing past Michael, his bag catching Michael’s as he walked past and almost knocking it off his shoulder. “My room is fine.”

Michael grinned gleefully at Calum and Ashton before turning and hurrying after Luke. Ashton took a step forward, but Calum’s hand curled around his wrist, holding him back.

“What?” Ashton said, keeping his voice low, even though he could feel Michael and Luke’s eyes on them from down the hall as Luke unlocked his hotel door, pushing it open.

“Come on,” Michael called after them, but they disappeared inside, not really caring to wait.

“Are you sure?” Calum asked, the pads of his fingers pressing into Ashton’s skin. “You’re really ok with this?”

Ashton shrugged—then nodded. “I mean, honestly?” Calum nodded in return. “Yeah,” Ashton said. “It...maybe doesn’t feel as strong as whatever I...feel for you, my _god_ that’s so cheesy.” Ashton rolled his eyes at himself. “But I...yeah. Are you ok with it?”

Calum licked his lip, then nodded again. “I think so.”

“Well, if not, just say so,” Ashton said, moving his free hand to Calum’s shoulder, but close enough to his neck that Ashton could brush his thumb across it. “I’m sure they’ll both be ok with stopping. Or, like, us leaving.”

Calum gave Ashton a small grin, then shrugged Ashton’s hand off his shoulder, both of them heading down the hall toward the room Luke and Michael had disappeared into. It was propped open with Michael’s bag, and Ashton stooped down to grab the strap as Calum pushed the door open, and the sight before them made both of them gasp a little in surprise, then rush into the room and quickly slam the door shut behind them.

“You’re doing that with the _door open_?” Ashton said, hissing at them, like not only could they be overheard but someone was actively listening.

“So?” Michael said, his voice muffled. His lips were pressed against Luke’s neck, his left hand exploring Luke’s front as he knelt over him. Luke’s shirt was already pushed halfway up his stomach, Michael’s hand hidden beneath it as it slid over his chest. Michael’s other hand was cupping himself inside of his own jeans, which had been unbuttoned and unzipped, but not removed.

“Anyone could have walked in,” Ashton said, and behind him, Calum snickered a little. “Uh, you were just as surprised as me, bud.” He let go of his suitcase, putting his hands on his hips, and at that, Calum just laughed a little bit harder.

“You’re seriously hilarious when you get all anxious,” Calum said, but the last bit of his sentence was partly drowned out by a moan from Luke—he and Ashton looked over to see Michael’s lips around one of Luke’s nipples, sucking before pulling away, revealing that his nipple was actually caught between Michael’s teeth.

“Oh fuck,” Calum whispered, taking a sharp, deep breath from his nose, sounding much more ok with this than he had a few minutes ago out in the hall.

Michael pulled away from Luke’s chest, looking over at where Calum and Ashton were still standing. “Are you just going to watch?”

Luke sat up, pushing Michael off of him, and tugged his shirt off over his head. It mussed his hair, just a little, but Calum thought it made him look slightly less intimidating, even as he was trying to give them a cocky smirk. “Come on,” Luke said, tossing his shirt over the side of the bed.

Ashton was prepared to have to convince Calum to join in, given his hesitance in the corridor earlier, but in the time it took him to glance over at Calum, he was already shrugging his shirt off. Ashton snickered, and Calum looked at him, shrugging, the smile on his face playful and excited. Ashton followed suit, pulling his shirt off as well, both of them dropping them to the ground and stepping toward the bed.

“Shoes,” Luke said, and Michael scoffed.

“If we’re all going to fuck on this bed, I really think shoes are the least of your problems,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“You take yours off too,” Luke replied, not bothering to rise to the gibe. He stretched his legs out far in front of him, his socked feet visible, pointing to his boots, over by the closet door.

“You’re unbelievable,” Michael said, but he rolled over to sit properly instead of kneeling above Luke, and untied his shoelaces, dropping them one by one over the edge of the bed.

“Thank you,” Luke said, as Calum and Ashton toed their shoes off. “Doesn’t it feel nice to be nice?”

“I’ll show you what feels nice,” Michael said, practically pouncing on Luke, their lips crashing together in a kiss that Luke accepted, his eyes flickering over to Ashton and Calum for a moment before they slipped closed. He smiled against Michael’s mouth as the bed dipped on one side, the added weight of two more people bowing the mattress.

“You.” Calum and Ashton looked up at Michael, who had spoken the word, and was pointing at Ashton.

“What?” Ashton asked, innocently, even though he suspected what Michael was going to say.

“I’m two for three,” Michael said, and Luke laughed, shaking his head. “We gotta do something.”

“Like what?” Ashton said, smirking a little, settling himself down to sit on his knees.

Michael shrugged, and Ashton laughed—until he felt Calum’s lips on his bare shoulder, kissing him softly, and Michael’s expression turned to one that was a mixture of jealousy and interest.

“Ok, that’s fair,” Michael said, voice light, like he didn’t care. “You can have him first, Cal, I get it.”

Luke watched the three of them quietly, unbuttoning his jeans like Michael, but instead of leaving them on, he pushed them down around his hips, leaving himself in just his underwear—his socks went over the side of the bed, too.

“Why do we have to take turns?” Luke asked, settling himself back against the pillows on his bed. “Why don’t we all just...do whatever.”

Calum and Ashton looked over at him, but Michael kept his eyes fixed on Ashton for a longer second, taking in the angle of his jawline, the slant of his nose, the way his hair fell across his forehead.

“That works for me,” Ashton said, looking over at Michael, who grinned in an uncharacteristically smooth way. Ashton returned the smile, then crawled over toward him, thankful for the kingsize bed because otherwise, the four of them wouldn’t have fit—and there was still a chance that they might not, depending on what “do whatever” ended up meaning.

“So what’s your plan?” Ashton said, voice low, as Calum sidled over to sit beside Luke, who tentatively touched Calum’s thigh and muttered “You should take these off,” his fingers pressing into the denim.

“I, uh,” Michael said, huffing a short laugh as beside them, Calum lifted his hips and tried to shimmy out of his jeans, while Luke looked on laughing quietly. “I didn’t actually get that far.”

“Kiss him,” Calum said, not even really paying attention—he was lifting his legs nearly vertical now, though, his jeans stuck around his knees.

“Do you need assistance?” Ashton asked, laughing, but Luke clicked his tongue.

“I will take care of the depantsing,” he said, “kiss Michael.”

It probably seemed a bit forced, at first, but when Ashton turned back to Michael and leaned in, their lips meeting, it didn’t stay that way for long. Michael’s lips were plump and soft, like Calum’s, and Ashton closed his eyes as Michael shuffled a bit closer to him. It wasn’t quite the same as Calum, who kissed Ashton with care, like he’d been waiting to do it for a long time—no, Michael was the opposite, taking the lead and parting his lips against Ashton’s, moving his hands to Ashton’s hips and holding him there. It made Ashton feel exhilarated in a completely different way than Calum did—it made him feel needy and wanting, desperate for more.

There was a soft _whump_ that indicated Calum’s jeans had finally been pulled clear of his body and thrown away, and then Ashton felt another hand on his lower back, in addition to Michael’s on his hips. He’d barely broken the kiss when he felt Calum’s lips on his temple, kissing him softly before leaning in to kiss the corner of Ashton’s mouth. Michael moved away a mere inch or two, then leaned back in to capture Calum’s mouth, kissing him this time.

“Ashton,” came Luke’s voice; Ashton looked at him as best he could over Michael and Calum kissing, but Luke was just giving him a pointed look as he moved onto his knees, moving to Michael’s other side. Luke’s hand moved to the back of Ashton’s neck, gently guiding him forward—Ashton nosed his way between Michael and Calum, and then it wasn’t just two of them kissing, it was all three of them, taking turns, swapping one out for the other, hands moving over bodies, so warm and soft it seemed like no one really knew who they were touching, nor did it matter.

Michael inhaled sharply against Calum’s lips, a gasp that had him looking down between where their fronts were forming something of a triangle. Calum and Ashton looked down as well; Ashton and Michael were the only ones still wearing his pants, but their focus was on Michael, as they could see where Luke’s left hand was clamped like a vice on Michael’s hip, the other arm snaked around his front. His right hand was tucked neatly into the front of Michael’s underwear, the elastic tight around his wrist, as he touched his cock, not really able to stroke him in the confines of the jeans, but working his hand over him just a little, as much as he could.

“Cal,” Ashton said, reaching for his arm, squeezing it. “Do you think—would you do something for me?”

“Yeah?” Calum asked, watching as Michael arched his back into Luke, his lips parted, eyes closed.

“What you did last night,” Ashton said, licking his lip. Calum raised an eyebrow to indicate he understood. “Do it to Michael.”

Calum looked a little surprised at the request, but then nodded, moving one of his hands to splay out on Michael’s stomach, kissing his chest, then leaning against him to kiss Luke over his shoulder. “I’ll need him on his knees.”

“No, wait,” Ashton said, and three faces turned to look at him, though Michael’s seemed a bit less interested in what he actually had to say, because Luke’s hand was still working over his cock. “On his back?” Ashton asked, sitting himself back down, resting his body on his calves. “I want to, um. Touch him while you do it.”

“I can do that.” Calum snickered, enjoying the bemusement on Luke and Michael’s faces, especially when he grabbed a pillow and pushed it flat against the mattress. “Lay on this, Mikey,” he said, and Luke retracted his hands, giving Michael’s shoulder a playful nip as he pulled away, and Michael moved himself, laying down on the pillow. Calum pulled it down so it was resting under his ass, not his back, and then hooked his fingers into Michael’s underwear and jeans. “I’m taking these off, now, ok?”

Michael nodded and panted out an “Ok,” and Calum began working the remainder of his clothing off. He stopped mid-thigh, because there was now a dick exposed, and though all of them had seen a dick other than their own in the past 24 hours, it was still kind of A Thing to have one of them naked, in this context, with the whole band present.

“Ok, I know it’s huge, but you’ve all seen it before, and it’s been in _your_ mouth,” Michael said to Calum, wiggling his hips slowly from side to side to get him to continue undressing him. Calum tugged on the denim, working the tight fabric off of Michael’s legs, as Ashton rolled off the bed to remove his jeans as well, climbing back on once he was done—now Michael was naked, and the three of them were in just their underwear. It still probably didn’t qualify as the strangest thing they’d ever done together.

“What did you do last night?” Luke asked, watching as Calum settled himself down flat against the mattress, between Michael’s legs, tugging him closer so his ass was just hanging off the pillow beneath him.

“You’ll see,” Ashton said, and Luke glanced at him, smirking to himself, before climbing over Calum to sit beside Ashton, who watched him, but didn’t say anything.

“Well I’m dying to know,” Michael said, propping himself up on his elbows, looking down his body at Calum, who looked past Michael’s dick, arching up just a little above his stomach, and meeting his eyes instead.

“Ready?” Calum asked.

“Do you need lube?” Luke asked, almost as an afterthought.

“Not yet,” Ashton said, and Luke and Michael both turned to look at him, now intrigued (and a little apprehensive in Michael’s case).

“As truly lovely as it is to have you down there, Cal, I’m afraid this angle might not be too flattering for me, so could you— _oh_ , my god,” Michael said, breaking off in the middle of his sentence, as Calum leaned in, his arms snaking around Michael’s thighs, curling around them and pulling his legs apart, enabling him to trace the tip of his tongue over his tight hole.

Luke let out a nervous laugh, obviously not expecting that, but Ashton shifted himself a little closer, wanting to watch. He’d known that Calum had to just _like_ this, given that he’d wanted to try it, but getting to watch him do it was better than he’d anticipated—Ashton didn’t know if he could pick who he thought was enjoying it more.

Calum’s eyes were closed as his jaw moved, his tongue slipping back and forth, up and down, over Michael’s hole, working the muscle against him in circles; he hummed softly as his fingers dug into Michael’s thighs, gripping him tight, grinding his hips down against the bed, consciously or not.

Michael was gasping for breath above him, his lips parted, eyes blown wide open, watching as Calum pushed himself up a little further, his tongue warm and wet between his ass cheeks, lapping at him firmly, firmly enough that the drag of his tongue would probably work in opening him up, just a little bit, enough for maybe the tip of a finger.

“Like that, Michael?” Luke asked, unsure of where to look: Ashton’s face, enthralled, unable to look away; Michael’s blissed out smile, the corners of his mouth twitching upward at the same pace as his hips; or Calum’s focused precision, his mouth licking and sucking at Michael’s hole, the tip of his tongue trying to work its way inside of Michael, now, wet and slick.

“Yes.” Michael breathed out the word as a whine, his hands balled into fists against the duvet below him, holding tight to it, like if he let go Calum would stop what he was doing. “Oh, fuck,” Michael said. “He’s—” He looked at Ashton, desperate. “He’s fucking me, fuck,” Michael whispered, and Luke would have snickered if he couldn’t see, just as clearly as Ashton could, that Calum had managed to push his tongue inside of Michael and was moving it in and out of him, licking him from the inside, stretching his hole out around it, sucking at his rim, spit dripping down his chin, down between Michael’s cheeks, wetting the pillow below him.

“Come here,” Ashton said, even though he was the one who moved closer to Michael, leaning over him—Luke took it upon himself to lay a hand on Ashton’s back, rubbing it slowly, lower and lower until he was able to slip a hand into Ashton’s underwear, cupping his ass.

Michael whined softly up at Ashton, who leaned in to kiss him, probably understanding how Michael was feeling, if Calum had done this to him the night before, and he was so eager to share it with someone else.

Ashton leaned down to kiss Michael, and Luke allowed his movement to cause his underwear to catch on Luke’s wrist, which resulted in them sliding down his thighs, exposing his ass. Luke grinned and moved closer; Ashton broke his kiss with Michael, looking rather miffed, but also a little embarrassed.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, trying to lower his hips back down.

Luke shrugged, then smirked a little. “I wanted to touch you too.”

Ashton bit his lip and glanced back at Michael, whose hand had wrapped around Ashton’s arm and was trying to pull him back for another kiss, his hips rolling into Calum’s face, who had pulled his tongue out and was licking long, wide stripes from his hole up to his balls.

“All right, ok,” Ashton said, and Luke grinned, winking at Ashton (who rolled his eyes and turned back to Michael), then slid off the bed to go to his bag for a moment, returning to Ashton’s side with a bottle of lube, depositing a ripped-open box of condoms onto the pillow beside Michael.

“When the hell did you get that?” Michael gasped out, watching as Luke uncapped the bottle and poured some of the liquid onto his fingers.

“I have my ways,” Luke said, trying to sound mysterious, but then just told the truth. “I stole it from a rest stop.”

“Luke,” Ashton said, clearly about to admonish him. “Are you—” he broke off with a soft moan, because Luke had trailed his fingers up between his thighs, nudging his balls before they pushed, gently, against his hole.

“You were saying?” Luke asked, but instead of answering, Ashton just shook his head. He was still pretty damn new to this, but he knew from what Calum had done with his tongue that it would probably feel pretty good to have something a little thicker, more solid, inside of him.

“Nothing,” Ashton said, licking his lip a little as Luke circled his hole with one finger.

“Mm,” Luke said, gently rubbing his finger against him, up and down.

“Shit,” Michael said, jerking his hips up; Calum had begun fucking him with a finger, his tongue slipping around it, teasing him. “Ash.”

Ashton turned his attention back to Michael, leaning forward, kissing him, exposing his ass further to Luke, who settled himself a bit more behind Ashton so he could see what he was doing. He wouldn’t angle his finger differently yet, wouldn’t try to move inside of him, until he felt Ashton ready to take him; he watched as Ashton’s hand creeped down Michael’s front, fingertips nudging against his cock before wrapping around it, stroking him off, his rhythm even right from the get-go.

Calum had pulled his face away from Michael’s ass, leaving his finger where it was, letting Michael squeeze down on him, as he leaned back in and let his lips close around the flesh of Michael’s thigh, kissing and sucking it, clearly looking to leave hickeys—he pulled away after a second and the beginnings of a bright red bruise were already forming.

Michael hummed softly as Ashton sighed against his mouth, and Luke tested him a little, curling his finger and gently pressing the tip against Ashton’s hole—it opened for him, gradually, nearly pulling Luke’s finger in just the same as Luke was pushing into him. Michael sucked on Ashton’s lip, spreading his thighs further for Calum, who was mostly keeping himself in check, but couldn’t stop himself from rolling his hips down into the bed, wanting the friction on his cock, but also not wanting to come too soon at all.

“Ash,” Luke said, his voice just edging on laughter. “You’re so fucking tight.”

“Tastes good,” Calum murmured against Michael’s thigh, watching Luke, even though he couldn’t see him fingering Ashton from his position.

“Does he?” Luke asked, glancing down at Calum. “Does Michael?”

Calum bit his lip, then nodded, nosing a little at his thigh. “Bet you do too.”

Luke smirked and pulled his finger out of Ashton, moving from sitting flat on his ass to rest on his knees. “I’ll lean on Ash,” Luke said. “Come on, then.” He stood on his knees, then leaned over Ashton, his front pushing against Ashton’s side, but he was able to rest his free hand against the wall above the headboard, his body stretching out over Ashton. He looked down and caught Michael’s eye, grinning, as Ashton kissed his neck, sucking at his collarbone.

“Luke,” Michael said, his wits back somewhat now that Calum wasn’t between his legs anymore, and Luke understood that Michael wanted him to go back to fingering Ashton—something told him that just making out wasn’t really what Michael meant when he’d said earlier that he hadn’t “gotten” Ashton yet.

Resting his hand flat on Ashton’s ass, he curled his finger and pushed it back inside of him, the slow stretch familiar to him; he fucked into Ashton, taking his time, wanting him to feel it, and feel good. He grinned a little as he felt Calum behind him, his hands pushing Luke’s underwear down, spreading Luke’s ass apart, and then finally his tongue was there, trailing up from Luke’s perineum to his hole, the tip flicking against him.

“Holy shit, yes,” Luke said, nearly laughing again, so blissed out already. “Taste good, Cal?” he asked, and Michael snickered before Ashton leaned back up, kissing him deeply, his hand still working over his cock, stroking him a bit quicker.

Calum hummed from behind Luke, palming himself through his underwear—he was the only one still wearing them, and that was just un-fucking-fair. His cock was hard and there was a wet spot against his wrist where the tip was leaking precome, but he didn’t make any move to do anything further—he was going to come if he did much more to himself, so instead, he focused on Luke, lapping at him, sucking at his hole.

Luke closed his eyes and pressed his face into his arm, fucking Ashton a bit quicker, loosening him up so he could start to tease entry with two fingers, unsure if he’d actually be able to do it, but damn it he was going to try.

Michael was writhing below Ashton, his cock stiff in his hand, wet from the precome Ashton had slicked over him, and he finally spoke, voice breaking as he mumbled against Ashton’s lips. “Stop,” he said, and Ashton’s hand stilled immediately. “Stop. I wanna—wanna fuck you, Ash, wanna—” he gasped, cutting himself off as he jerked his hips up into Ashton’s hand, getting a bit more friction before Ashton pulled his hand away, letting his sticky hand splay out on Michael’s stomach instead. Before Ashton could say anything, his nose still pressed against Michael’s, Michael asked, “Let me?”

“Yeah,” Ashton breathed, nodding, his nose tickling Michael; behind him, Luke was able to slip his second finger into Ashton’s hole, stretching him out as Calum gripped Luke’s thigh, squeezing it tight as he pressed his palm a little harder against himself.

“Fuck, Cal,” Luke whined, opening his eyes again and looking down at how fucked out Michael looked below him—he couldn’t see Ashton’s face, but he had to look somewhere along the same lines, if not further down them.

“Mikey, can you—can you finish him?” Luke asked, slipping his fingers gingerly out of Ashton, who sighed at the loss. “I gotta—Cal—”

“Yeah,” Michael said, waiting for Calum to move back, then Luke, and finally for Ashton to shakily straighten his back, before he was able to sit up. “C’mere, Ash,” Michael said, pulling Ashton over to sit on his lap, straddling him. Luke passed Michael the lube, and he took it before settling his hands on Ashton’s ass, pulling him close, their fronts against each other, their hard lengths rubbing together. Ashton whimpered as Michael slicked up three fingers, pushing two into Ashton right away, slowly, allowing Ashton to ask him to stop if he wanted to.

“‘S good,” Ashton mumbled, kissing Michael deeply as he worked two fingers into him, fucking him with them as best he could at the angle at which he was entering him.

Calum moved back, perched at the end of the bed, as Luke turned to face him, walking closer to him on his knees. He was so tall, his legs so gangly, that it just looked a bit amusing, but then Luke was kissing him and Calum forgot to think so. His arms came up to wrap around Luke, emboldened by the fact that not only had he just eaten Luke out a little bit, but Luke still wanted to kiss him after. 

Ashton’s breathy sighs spurred them all on—especially Calum, who glanced over and saw Ashton rolling his hips against Michael’s hand, riding his fingers, and whined when he saw Michael slip his ring finger in beside the other two. Ashton’s legs were spread wide around Michael, and he had to force himself to pay attention to Luke again. Calum pulled away from the kiss, Luke’s ice-blue eyes focused directly on him, and Calum felt a pull in his groin telling him to get some part of Luke’s mouth on his body, immediately.

“Suck me,” Calum said, voice low, and Luke just grinned in return, moving his hand to Calum, pushing him back. Calum moved with him, shifting to sit, then lie back, resting on his elbows, his upper half propped up as Luke laid down between his legs, hands moving right away to his thighs.

“You’re so fucking hard,” Luke commented casually, leaning in and mouthing at Calum’s erection through the fabric of his underwear, feeling it straining against the cotton. “So wet,” he said, sucking at the head; Calum moaned, balancing himself on one elbow as best he could as he reached down to thread his fingers through Luke’s hair.

“Mikey,” Ashton whined, completely unaware of how, behind him, Luke was trying to pull Calum’s underwear down with his teeth (and only succeeding in making them both snort with laughter).

“One sec,” Michael said, reaching beside him with his unoccupied hand, fumbling with the box of condoms for a moment before managing to pull one out. “Back up,” he added, slowly pulling his fingers from Ashton, missing the feeling of his tight heat, but reminding himself that he’d be feeling it again in a minute, in a much better way.

Calum lifted his hips up into Luke, who had pulled his underwear off (with his hands) and was now mouthing at his length, sucking the side of his cock; Calum was writhing beneath him, wanting more after being teased for so long. “Don’t—don’t tease me, Luke, please, fuck,” Calum was begging him, but Luke didn’t do anything other than press his palms to Calum’s hips, holding him down as he dragged his lips up from the base of his cock to the head, warm breath tickling him, before he blew a stream of cold air against his heated skin. “ _Fuck_ ,” Calum groaned, pushing up against Luke’s hands.

“Ash,” Michael said quietly, watching as Ashton stood on his knees above him; Michael settled himself down a little further, bending his knees to each side so he didn’t kick Luke or Calum; Ashton bit his lip and then lowered himself back down. Michael held his lubed-up dick steady, holding his breath as he felt the head brush against the inside of Ashton’s think.

“Hold it still,” Ashton scolded him, playfully, ignoring Michael’s huffy “I am!” in response. He licked his lip as he felt the tip of Michael’s cock against his hole—he’d been prepped enough, taking three fingers easily, and he knew he could take Michael’s cock, but he still took a moment to compose himself before he slid down further. The head popped into place inside of him, and Ashton unintentionally leaned forward, his hands resting on the headboard above Michael, holding himself steady.

“Easy,” Michael reminded him, and Ashton nodded, taking his time in sliding down the rest of the way on him. Michael didn’t mind—he was so tight and felt fucking incredible inside.

“I fucking mean it,” Calum said, the edge to his voice not quite threatening because of the whimper at the end of the sentence. “Please just—just fucking put it in your mouth, fuck.”

Michael smirked, amused at what was happening at the other end of the bed, but he couldn’t look away from Ashton’s body above him, at his hands resting on his hips.

“ _Luke_ ,” Calum said, the name on his lips clearly a demand, and Luke gave in, finally, leaning further up to lick along the underside of Calum’s cock, using the fingers of one hand to angle it up, letting the head move into his mouth. He sucked softly, a small amount of precome gushing onto his tongue, and Luke swallowed, hollowing his cheeks as he moved down onto Calum.

“Mikey,” Ashton whined, voice small, as he fully seated himself on Michael’s cock. He felt so full, Michael so big inside of him, that he lowered trembling arms around Michael’s neck and kissed him, desperately, needing the comfort that Michael’s touch could provide. Michael moved his hands to Ashton’s back, rolling his hips just a little bit as he soothed his palms over Ashton’s skin, feeling his ribs as he did.

“Move whenever you’re ready,” Michael said, calm and low, and Ashton nodded, their lips brushing together as he lifted himself up, the slide of Michael’s length out of him a sensation he wasn’t used to yet, the burn of it moving back into him also unfamiliar. “Fuck, Ash, so good,” Michael sighed, leaning his head back against the headboard, probably not even aware he was speaking.

“I’m gonna fucking come,” Calum whined jerking his hips up, just as Luke pulled off of him. “Wh-what the fuck?” Calum gasped, his hips twitching up.

“Wanna come with you,” Luke mumbled, almost like he was embarrassed to admit it, and reached down to take hold of his cock, stroking himself off quickly as he mouthed at Calum’s balls, sucking one into his mouth, trying to work himself up enough before he took his cock back into his mouth. Calum’s heavy sigh above him let him know that this, at least, would appease him for a short while; his tongue moved over them, eyes slipping shut.

Ashton’s thighs were fucking burning, but he didn’t stop rolling his hips on top of Michael; his hands clamped to his shoulders tightly. Michael was kissing him, slow, languid, much the opposite of how Ashton was moving on him; Ashton’s tongue slipped into his mouth and Michael closed his lips around it, sucking on it and Ashton moaned, low in his throat, his cock throbbing between his legs. He lifted one of his hands from Michael’s shoulder, but just as he did, Michael’s hand found its way to his cock and stroked him, and Ashton let out a guttural moan, his body tightening.

“Close,” he managed to breathe out, so sensitive from being fingered and fucked, Michael’s length dragging over his prostate each time he moved his hips.

“Good,” Michael replied, licking his lower lip, taking Ashton’s lips with his own again; he rolled his hips up, Ashton’s whole body moving with him, and before he could even give Michael so much as a warning, he was coming, hot stripes of come landing on both of their fronts, his ass squeezing down on Michael.

“Fuck,” Calum groaned, watching as Ashton’s body shuddered, the head of his cock between Luke’s lips. He groaned again, louder, as Luke took half of his length back in, but what pushed Calum over the edge was watching Michael break apart underneath Ashton. His hands were back on Ashton’s hips, clinging to him, grinding Ashton’s body down onto him as he finally came, nearly shouting with the intensity of it, the sound punched out of his lungs; his legs trembled as he came, his cock deep in Ashton’s ass.

The sight was what fucked Calum up completely—Michael’s dark pink lips parted, his head thrown back—and Luke’s mouth around his cock, sucking him down, swallowing around him, pulled Calum’s orgasm from him, too. He didn’t have a moment to warn Luke—he came in his mouth, moaning, his head pressing back against the comforter on the bed, hips lifting up of their own accord, but to Luke’s credit he swallowed everything Calum had given him, even though he pulled off after and wiped his mouth, grimacing a little.

Calum sat up, catching Ashton moving off of Michael out of the corner of his eye, gingerly sitting down as Michael rolled onto his side, tying off the condom to go throw it away in the bathroom.

“Come here, Luke,” Calum said, not waiting for him to—he reached out and took hold of Luke’s cock, stroking him quickly, moving his hand over Luke’s full length, until Luke came too, his hips fucking into Calum’s fist, his semen landing on the bed, and Luke sighed in relief and pleasure.

“Shit,” Luke said, grinning and wiping his mouth again, just in case, for good measure.

“Is anyone tired?” Michael asked, reappearing from the bathroom, his dick wiped clean of any residual spunk, mostly just because he hated the feel of it.

“No,” three voices chorused, even though Ashton did feel a little like he wanted to curl up and sleep beside Calum.

Good,” Michael said, approaching the bed and checking the box of condoms. “‘Cause we still got a few of these left.”

“Give me one,” Ashton said, holding his hand out, then nudging Calum’s side with his foot. “Cal?”

Calum looked over at him, grinning shyly, then nodded. “Yeah, ok.”

Michael plucked a condom from the box and pressed into Ashton’s outstretched hand.

“Luke?” Michael asked, picking another one out of the box. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Luke said, shifting his weight to keep his balance as Calum crawled over to Ashton, climbing on top of him, kissing him, their arms wrapped around each other.

“Ok,” Michael said, dropping the box on the bedside table, the cardboard making a muffled noise. “You do me, though, ok?”

“Oh. Yeah, ok,” Luke agreed, glancing over at Ashton, who was kneading Calum’s ass, the bottle of lube near his knee.

“Ok,” Michael repeated, climbing back onto the bed, beside Ashton—there was plenty of room for them like this, side-by-side.

“Stop saying ok,” Ashton said, snickering from the other half of the bed, his hands on the backs of Calum’s thighs now.

“Ok,” Luke and Michael said in unison, laughing before Luke moved to lay on top of Michael, kissing him right away, even as Ashton scoffed—mostly at Calum, who was laughing a little at Michael and Luke.

“Give me that,” Ashton said to no one, snatching up the lube from the bed and popping it open.

“Wait,” Calum said, squirming a little on top of Ashton. “Switch with me, let me go there.”

Ashton looked up at him, then slid off the bed as Calum climbed off of him, but stayed on his hands and knees.

“Like this,” Calum said, and Michael whistled, low, clearly liking the sight. Ashton licked his lip, nodded to himself, then squeezed some lube onto his fingers and moved back onto the bed behind Calum, handing the bottle to Luke, who had held his hand out for it. He poured a dollop onto his fingers as well, moving down between Michael’s legs, wasting no time in pushing his legs apart. He got to it much quicker than Ashton, who was looking at Calum’s back as though he were a fragile doll that he could break with so much as one touch.

“Just go slow,” Luke said, rubbing one finger against Michael’s hole already; he was still sensitive from his previous orgasm, but he rolled his hips into Luke’s finger anyway.

Ashton took Luke’s advice, trying not to notice how good at fingering assholes Luke was apparently, and instead gently rubbed the pad of his finger over Calum’s hole as well. Calum sighed softly, arching his back a little, content. Ashton tried to look at Luke for cues of what to do, but he already had one finger inside of Michael, which told him that this might not have been the first time they did this, and that maybe Luke was just damn good with his hands. Well—he was. Ashton could attest to that, really.

Biting the inside of his cheek, then sucking it, Ashton moved two fingers up and down over Calum’s hole, before trying to let one slip inside of him after a few moments. Calum opened his knees, widening his stance, and with barely any pressure at all, the tip of Ashton’s finger spread his hole open, stretching it around him.

“Fuck,” Ashton said, unable to look away. It was totally different than fingering a girl, but in a good way, and Ashton moved his finger in further, watching as Calum’s body tensed up a little—Ashton felt it around himself, Calum’s ass squeezing down on his finger, and Ashton pulled out, just to push back in, slowly, but speeding up just a little each time.

“You got it,” Luke said, catching Ashton’s eye when he glanced over; he had two fingers in Michael, now, scissoring them slowly, pumping them apart as he moved them in and out, opening him up for his dick.

“Little faster?” Michael asked, digging his heels into the bed, pushing up into Luke’s hand, and Luke obliged—Ashton watched as he closed his fingers and fucked Michael’s asshole with them, quicker, parting them only when he was in deep.

Ashton had to stop watching—he was neglecting Calum, and that wasn’t fucking fair to either of them. Calum been teased practically the whole night; Ashton wanted to make this good for him.

“Can I try two?” Ashton asked, and Calum nodded, looking back over his shoulder.

“Please,” he said, voice inviting him to do it. Ashton crooked his fingers so that his second one could slide in beside the first, and Calum sighed deeply, settling himself down on his elbows instead of resting on his hands.

“Should I wait to fuck you,” Luke asked, “until Cal is ready?” He tapped Michael on the front of his hip with his free hand, fingers working in some kind of rhythm that Michael couldn’t really identify.

“No,” Michael answered. “Want you now.”

“Almost,” Luke said, angling a third finger inside of Michael, grinning at his satisfied sigh of pleasure. “Almost ready.”

“Feel so good, Ash,” Calum said over him, flexing his hips and presenting his ass to Ashton a bit more; he moved his fingers in and out, stretching Calum the way Luke had done to Michael. He wanted to be absolutely sure that he wouldn’t hurt him, but he was still trying to rush as much as he dared (which wasn’t actually very much at all).

The ripping of foil sounded beside them, and Ashton looked over to see Luke tearing his condom open, rolling it onto his dick, feeling around for the bottle of lube to smear some more onto himself, and then—as Ashton and Calum both watched—he pushed into Michael, his cock sliding right in. Ashton sighed and Calum whined, turning away and pushing his face into the pillows in front of him.

“Come on, Ash,” Calum said, voice muffled, “please.”

“I know,” Ashton said, hurriedly trying to calm himself down enough to carefully slip a third finger into Calum—he nearly cried in relief when it moved into him and Calum just hummed quietly, finally one step closer to what he really needed. Beside them, Luke’s hips were pressed flush against Michael’s hips, grinding against him, his cock deep inside of Michael, but he wasn’t really moving.

“Wh—” Ashton started, his fingers stilling in Calum, though he did keep them spread open as well.

“Maybe, waiting for you,” Luke answered the unasked question, and Michael whined, loudly, pushing back against Luke.

“Fucking move,” he demanded, but Luke just rubbed both of his hands over Michael’s ass, smirking to himself.

“Talk to Ashton,” Luke said.

Without giving Michael a chance to say shit about hurrying the fuck up, Ashton moved his fingers in and out of Calum a few more times, stretching him around them, parting them inside of his ass to open him further, enough so he would be ready to take Ashton.

“Ash…” Calum whispered, moving his weight from knee to knee, trying to indicate he was ready to try more.

“Ok,” Ashton said, splaying one hand out on Calum’s ass, holding him steady as he pulled his three fingers out, taking the utmost care to do it slowly, not wanting to hurt Calum. He wiped his slicked-up fingers on the duvet and picked up the condom, pulling it from the package and rolling it on, then squeezing some lube directly onto his hard length, moving his hand over it to spread it evenly, before wiping his hand off a second time, and lining up his dick with Calum’s hole.

“Stop saying ok,” Luke said, and Michael snickered, even in his position of still wanting to be fucked but not getting it.

“Shut up,” Ashton said, voice tight as his length moved into Calum, his dick disappearing into him, until he was fully seated too.

“Make him come here,” Michael said, reaching for Calum and wrapping a hand around his wrist.

“You couldn’t have asked before?” Ashton said, readying himself to pull out—which was bullshit, because every move he made with his dick inside Calum was bringing him closer and closer to an orgasm.

“Just move with me,” Calum said, remaining mostly in the same position, just angling himself so he was on his elbows, closer to Michael, their faces right next to each other. Calum kissed Michael as Luke began moving his hips, thrusting forward into him, leaning over him, one hand on Michael’s shoulder, the other above him, flat against the headboard.

Ashton wasn’t sure where to look—at himself, entering Calum, his hips fucking into him; at Luke, fucking Michael, his body mostly folded over him; or at Calum and Michael, their lips gently moving together, their kissing almost chaste in comparison to what was actually going on.

Michael’s hand snaked between his body and Luke’s—he knew he wouldn’t last long, not with how tight his abdomen felt, with how wound up he still was from getting to fuck Ashton. He rolled his hips up, moaning against Calum’s mouth.

“Cal,” Ashton breathed, leaning over him as well, his front against Calum’s back, but he was supporting himself with one hand on the bed, holding himself up—with his other hand, he reached around Calum’s front, taking hold of his cock and jerking him off. The reaction in Calum’s body was instantaneous—he tightened up around Ashton again, who groaned and closed his eyes, hiding his face in the back of Calum’s shoulder, then lifting it to nuzzle his hair. He smelled a little like sweat and sex but mostly he smelled like _Calum_ , and Ashton would have been fucking embarrassed that that seemed to have been what made him come, if he didn’t feel Calum spill a second after him, his come filling Ashton’s palm as he cupped the head of his cock, accidentally covering Calum’s dick with his own jizz.

“Fuck,” Ashton said, body shuddering, his lips brushing against Calum’s shoulder, but his swear was drowned out by Michael’s much louder, shouted, “ _Fuck!_ ” as Luke jerked his hips forward, nudging his prostate repeatedly, and then Michael was coming too, his own hand working over himself quicker and quicker, his come landing on his front in streaks.

“Mi- _Michael_ ,” Luke groaned, his eyes squeezed shut as his hips twitched forward into Michael’s ass, his legs locked in place against him. Ashton didn’t even have the presence of mind to pull out as he watched the other three—Calum was kissing Michael’s forehead, pushing his hair back off his face, and Luke was rubbing his hands down Michael’s thighs.

Calum squeezed down on him for a second, pulling away, and Ashton took that to mean he should actually pull out this time. Bracing himself on Calum’s hips, Ashton straightened up and leaned back, his cock slipping out of Calum’s ass.

“Shit,” Calum sighed, rolling onto his side as Ashton stood up from the bed, slowly, walking to the bathroom as he tied off the condom, cleaning himself up as well. 

“Grab a towel,” Luke called, before he appeared at the bathroom door. He gave Ashton a wide grin that spoke volumes, before Ashton slipped out past him and Luke swapped places with him, entering the bathroom. Ashton moved back over to the bed, first wiping off Michael’s front, then his own cock, before kneeling on the bed to clean up Calum, too.

“So,” Michael said, sitting up, looking at the comforter, which they thoroughly ruined. “I say we get the fuck rid of this thing.” He kicked it away, which didn’t work well, since Calum was lying on it, and Ashton was kneeling on it.

“Why don’t we just go to another room?” Luke asked.

“We’re all already in here,” Michael said, at the same moment that Calum said, “This bed is warm,” and Ashton said, “All of our stuff is here.”

Luke smirked, snorting with laughter before he stepped forward, taking hold of the corner of the duvet. Ashton moved off the bed on the other side, helping Luke pull the dirty blanket off of the bed and deposit it on the floor.

“So, just to avoid this coming up again later,” Michael said, “we’re all totally cool with what just happened and are enthusiastically looking forward to doing it again?”

No one dissented—there was just a scattered smattering of laughter, but three boys nodding in response to Michael’s question.

“Good. We’re gonna save so much money on hotel rooms,” Michael said, and Luke rolled his eyes, covering Michael’s face with his hand to shush him, as he climbed over him onto the bed; he settled down between Michael and Ashton, Calum on his other side.

“Sleep now?” Ashton asked, covering the four of them with the loose bedsheet, to at least have some semblance of modesty, or as much modesty as one can have while naked in bed with three other men.

“Ok,” said Michael, Luke, and Calum.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Ashton said, exasperated and ignoring their snickering, until he finally just breathed out a huffy laugh. And then—“Stop saying it! But, ok.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [maybeillfindyouhere](http://maybeillfindyouhere.tumblr.com) • Come say hi!
> 
>  
> 
> _Work and chapter titles from "The Adventure" by Angels & Airwaves._


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